The Letter
by LuvTaylor01
Summary: Lesley wants nothing more but to be happy. When she gets excepted to Opalberry, the secret school of magic, and meets Logan everything goes right. Until one day in class when all secrets slip out and her life and relation is in ruins.
1. New Things

Preface: When you die I heard you are supposed to see your life flash before your eyes. I didn't. I saw three pictures; one of Rex, one of Logan, and one of the letter that brought me here.

Chapter 1: The Beginning

I was more than embarrassed by the fact that I was crying, in public, at school. Of course now Rex had to be right there in the hallway. I tried to go as fast as I could to pass him, but I could tell he noticed. We were standing up ready for the serve in volleyball when he had to bring it up.

"Are you okay?" he asked slowly, we never really had a conversation before. We come from different worlds; I could see why it was difficult for him to ask.

"Yeah, I'm fine" I lied

"Are you sure, you didn't lo-," I cut him off.

"I'm fine, Rex, really, drop it," I snapped. He dropped it after that, or that's what I thought.

I changed as quickly as I could and swept out. I was too late.

"Lesley, I want you to tell me why you were upset" he persisted.

"No, it doesn't matter" I said, and started to walk away. He grabbed my arm.

"Lesley, I won't tell anyone." he pushed on "Trust me."

"Why do you care? Do you really think for one second you'd talk to me other wise? If I came up to you and said 'Hey Rex', you'd blow me off." I think my tone and words caught him off guard. I pulled my arm away quickly and went off.

Only Tillie was at the lunch table for now. I was thankful for that.

"Did she say anything yet?" I asked

"Well, she said she wasn't going to talk to you at all," Tillie answered.

"She's going to have to end this charade sometime or another," I said, not very confidently though. Then she came, she still sat by me, like always. But she positioned her body away from me. The rest of the day went by slowly. I was sure the week was never going to end. The next day was boring, expect that I had to dart the eye contact Rex was trying to give me. By Thursday I was sure that Rex had forgotten about the whole thing, but boy was I wrong.

When I was walking toward gym, down the hall, he was waiting for me. He stepped right in my way, with an eager look on his face.

"Lesley, I have thought this through and you have left me no choice. If you don't tell me, I'll tell everyone that you were crying," he said. I stared at him with fury and disbelief in my eyes. I could feel the shock cover my face.

"Later," I mumbled, gritting my teeth. I walked swiftly passed him, and he let me through. Gym was torture. I was sure I was going to throw the volleyball at Rex's head. After we changed he was waiting there, as I suspected.

"You want to know something, Rex; I don't care if you tell everyone. Go right on ahead," I said then started to walk away but his response threw me off. He laughed.

"You're right, I may not know you but I'm smart enough to know that if I said something like that, it would kill you." he said, chuckling. I smashed my palms together and turned around slowly. The bell rang and everyone left.

"You want to know the truth?" I asked, through my grinding teeth "I don't care because I'm moving! There I said it! I was crying because I had just told Kass and it broke her. Then Tillie let it slip out that I had a choice. Now she won't even talk to me." I said. I was practically screaming now. "Is that what you wanted to hear? I have a month till I leave, there you go. Now just spread it around!" I was screaming, but I didn't care. Then it only got worse because I started sobbing through my words. "That's it Rex, that's all I have left to give. It's over."

Then he did something I never thought could be real. He quickly came to me and grabbed me. He embraced me so hard; it was like he was holding me back together.

"Shh, Lesley, I promise it'll be okay. I won't let anything happen to you."

Then he pulled back a little. It happened so quickly then, he was a little hesitant but must have rethought it. He crushed his lips to mine. It was warm and tender, but fierce. Then we slowly parted. His face was stiff, his eyes searching mine. I tried to find some explanation for this action but I couldn't find anything. I was glad he did it, but now this just made things harder. I knew what I did next would hurt him, but I couldn't help it. I was too shocked. I turned around and ran out, Tears streaming down my face. I didn't go to the lunchroom first; I couldn't let Tillie see me like this. I went in the bathroom and I cried. I knew I would have to come out sometime so I put myself as much back together as I could and I walked out.

When I got home I did what I normally did, but it was like I was in a trance. I wasn't completely there. I lay on my bed all afternoon listening to my Ipod, which was all I could do.

"Lesley!" my mom yelled down "there's a letter here for you."

I composed myself best I could. I didn't want her to think I was in this condition because of us moving.

"Here," she said handing me the letter. It was a mix between light brown, dark brown, and white. I flipped it over. There was a stamp type thing on the back. It was what they used to use to close letters back in the old days. The red mark had and crease of an O on it.

"You might want to read it alone," my mom said.

I eyed her suspiciously. I went back down the stairs. I didn't want to open it because it didn't want to ruin the stamp. I slowly slid my finger under the crease. The stamp came off nicely as if it had only had magnets on it. I pulled the letter out; it had the same beautiful mix of colors as the envelope had.

_Lesley,_

_You have been cordially invited to attend Opal Berry. This is a school of magic. You do not have to attend but you can not tell anyone. If you decide to join you can reply by placing a letter back into this envelope. If you have further questions you may ask your parent/parents. Opal Berry is a place where only magic families can go or see. You will learn the basics of magic. You go home for summer, Christmas, and spring break. The school is an 8 year term. I hope you will accept this invitation. I hope to see you soon._

_Professor Miroslav _

I had to read it three times to make sure I was okay and not in after shock. I ran up the stairs and tripped three times.

"Is this some kind of joke?" I yelled, I was not in the mood for jokes.

"I swear it's not a joke," my mom said. She wasn't smiling or anything.

"So I'm just supposed to believe that there's some kind of magic out there?" I said, in a lower voiced this time. "Where is the proof? This is completely nuts!"

"I know, and I can prove it to you. Hold on." she said, and she ran upstairs. She came down with what looked like a branch.

"Watch the chair" she ordered. She held up the branch, flicked her wrist, and said some words I couldn't make sense of. Suddenly the chair was floating, in mid-air. She moved her arm and the chair moved accordingly. The chair floated back to the ground.

"Is this proof enough?" she asked, but I couldn't say anything. I just stood there like a moron with my mouth hanging open.

"So do you want to sign up or not?" she asked.

"Can I have some time to think, alone" I asked. I went downs stairs and just sat. I couldn't believe this was happening to me, I mean, like I needed anything to be harder. After a while of thinking, I went upstairs.

"Mom, if I sign up, what about Florida?" I asked

"This was all part of the plan. You could either live in Florida or go to the school." she answered.

"But what would we tell the people in Florida?" I asked. I had so many questions.

"We would tell them that you went to live with your grandma, because we were having problems."

"Well, I guess, I want to do it. Where do I sign up?" I asked

*************************************

Later that week my mom and I wrote a letter and sent it back. Then we got another letter back of a list of things.

"An animal?" I asked "Where are we going to get this stuff?"

"Don't worry, you will leave February 20th like we planned but we buy the stuff that day too. School starts the 21st."

"But how am I supposed to get all my stuff in one day?" I asked

"Don't worry. I'll get you a little bag packed for the train and the rest will be taken care of," she said

"Only a little bag?" I asked, confused.

"They'll get your other stuff" she said.

School was school. Rex hadn't said anything to me that week yet so I felt the need to step in. I must have hurt him badly. I got lucky too because he was in the hallway alone on the way to gym.

"Rex!" I called, he turned. "Can I talk to you?" He turned around.

"What is there to say?" he retorted.

I didn't think the rudeness was necessary. Maybe I deserved it.

"Look, Rex, the only reason I ran away was because I was surprised and it was just making things harder." I explained. "And I want to be with you, but you know I only have 20 days left, and then it's over"

"Thanks for the clarification" he said, no feeling in his voice. He turned around and walked into the locker room. I stood there, open mouthed, stunned. He didn't talk to me in gym, or after. He didn't even talk to me the rest of the day.

***************************************

I was walking to gym, alone, again. It seems like I'm repelling any friend I ever had. Even Tillie seems repelled by my antisocial mood, but she wouldn't understand. Then I heard running feet behind me, I blew it off. It was probably some nerdy boy running down the hallway. Then I felt a warm arm wrap around my waist and twist me around. I couldn't even comprehend who it was until a second later, while he was kissing me. It was warm and forgiving. Like this might be the last time he would kiss me. I hoped not.

"Lesley, I don't care how long you're staying here; I want to have you as much as I can before you leave. And I don't care what you think."

This time I kissed him. My hand running through his red hair; his brown eyes closed. His lips were in sync with mine; I could feel his hand on the back of my neck. My heart was pumping faster and my breath was getting staggered.

"Rex!" I heard someone yell. Then we had to part to look, unfortunately. It was his best friend Matt.

"Um, I'll see you later Lesley" Rex said as Matt passed him and grabbed his arm; pulling him away from me.

"Okay" I said softly, I had no more breath left.

I floated through gym. I didn't get to see Rex because he was in the other gym. After I got changed I waited, not really sure what to expect. Then he came out and walked my way. My heart was pumping faster, I couldn't be sure the guy I daydreamed about being with was walking toward me.

He slipped his arm around my waist. We started walking toward lunch.

"So, just making sure" I paused "We're going out right?" I asked, honestly not sure. He chuckled.

"No, you're just my kissing buddy," he said sarcastically "No really, of course we are!"

"So what are we doing about lunch?" I asked as we were getting closer "I mean we're about to get some stares."

"Well let's not sit together today, just to let people settle down a bit, okay?" he suggested.

"Yeah I was thinking the same thing."

We turned into the cafeteria and, just as I suspected, heads started turning. It was like slow motion, everyone started noticing one after the other. Then before I knew it we had to part again because we were at my lunch table. I didn't want to part because the limited time we had.

"Oh my god!" Tillie exclaimed. I smiled. Even Kass turned and looked interested.

"What?" I asked, playing dumb.

"You know what. You and Rex? How much did you pay him?" Tillie asked.

"Ha-ha but I didn't pay him anything; we're kind of going out now." I said smugly. Kass snorted.

"Do you have something to say?" I was surprised. She hadn't said a word to me and now she suddenly has something to say.

"Actually I do" she said. "Does he even know that you're leaving?" she asked, like she proved something that I had made a mistake to.

"As a matter of fact he knows. It's a long story, but he said, and I quote 'I don't care how long you're going to be here, I want to be with you as much as I can'," I said, matter-of-factly.

I hated to be rude to Kass with the little time we had left but she left me no choice.

"Wait, I want to know he whole story!" Karina piped up.

So then I explained it to them. Kass tried to look not interested but I could tell she was.

"Finally, that's why you've been acting antisocial!" Karina exclaimed.

"Why aren't you sitting with him then, if you guys like each other so much?" Kass asked sharply.

"Because we decided to let it get around and then we'd make our self more public," I retorted. Her mood was pissing me off, a lot. She snorted, and I made a noise of disgust from her remark.

*****************************************

The weeks went by so fast, that it was hard to not think about what was coming. I wouldn't say we were in love but if we had longer, maybe. Then there it was, the day I have been dreading for a while, but also excited for.

I was at lunch sitting with Tillie, Kass, Karina, Frida, and Rex.

"Lesley, can I talk to you?" Rex said.

"Okay, I'm sitting right here." I laughed

"No, um, alone." he said

"Ah, sure." I didn't like the way he didn't look at me. He led me toward the bathrooms, out of sight of most people.

"Lesley, I know you know how much I like you, but I don't know how this is going to work. I know you're not coming back, and I know you don't want to. I really don't want to do this but I don't see how it will work out. I know you're upset and might deny this request but I still want to be friends with you," he said only looking at my face in brief glances. I let a tear slide out and he wiped it away.

"I want to be friends, yes. I'm so sorry we can't be together" I looked down "I knew this was coming too."

Then I turned around and walked away. It was like the first day we came to lunch together. Except we weren't together this time, it was just me. The heads were turning just like last time and I knew they knew what happened from the lack of Rex by my side and my facial expression. When I got back to the table no one said anything, they just gave each other eye conversations. They were finally able to start talking so I could wallow in my own self pity for a while before I had to compose myself again.

We had a going away party later at Tillie's house. Rex never showed. I was crying again when the party was over. I was hugging Tillie and Frida and Karina. When I let go I felt a blow from my side, Kass was hugging me in a giant bear hug and she was crying. She didn't say anything, still, and after we'd let go she went back to her statue form.


	2. Train Ride

I got home at 8:00pm and my mom was standing there with my bag all ready for departure. We went in the car and she started driving. I didn't know where we were going nor did I care. I just sat there staring out the window, not even really thinking. Not even there, I was in another trance. I'm not sure if I want to stay in this one or not. I must have fallen asleep because my mom woke me up.

"Lesley, wake up, we're there," she said, pushing me.

I got up slowly, trying to wake up. I looked around and we were at West Brooke Mall.

"Mom, I know this is a shopping center, but I've never seen any of these things sold here." I said sleepily.

"I know Lesley, we don't go in here we go through here," she said pulling me down an alley with red, brick walls.

"What?" I asked. I was awake and confused. It was very cold and I heard my teeth chattering but I couldn't feel them doing it. It must be an after-shock from the previous trance.

"Okay now, watch what I do and follow in the exact spot." she said backing away from the brick wall in front of us. Then she ran right into the wall, I lunged to catch her but she wasn't there. I rubbed my eyes to make sure I had seen right. She just ran through the wall. I gulped one big breath and ran. Suddenly I was in some place bright and a little warmer than before but still cold.

"What took you so long?" she asked. I was still looking around. There were creatures of all sorts and stores that look like they could be from the 1900's.

"I couldn't believe what I was seeing; I was ready to catch you from the rebound," I admitted.

"Okay let's go. The train leaves in an hour and a half" she explained as she started walking, I followed. We got all our shopping done except for a wand. That was what the branch from before was.

"I think I will name her April." I named the cat I just got, one of the requirements. We walked into a store with a bunch of boxes with wands in them, which looked like mini shoe boxes. It took them three tries to find me the right wand. I had also managed to knock down a shelf and break a light with my wand attempts. When we were walking to the train I saw a mirror and stopped to look at myself. I had changed since we left Florida, and I was afraid how that would affect my living there. I didn't have to worry about that now. I looked at myself. My brown eyes had little red rings around them from my tears and I looked pale and exhausted. I think I would take a nap on the train. I was wearing my favorite jeans and my rainbow Nike shoes I got for Christmas. I was wearing my 'Twilight Addict' pullover sweatshirt with the sleeves rolled up showing a black long sleeve shirt underneath. I desperately needed to brush my hair but I'd do that later too.

"Um, Lesley, I have to tell you something vital," My mom said, she paused. "You can't have cell phones there, but you can have any other electronics."

"What?!" I yelled

"Shh! That's why I got you that laptop for Christmas. You will be able to talk to me through email and letters," she explained

"But what do I do if someone texts me?" I asked.

"I will write some excuse back and tell them to email you. Calm down," she said "Now you have to go. Give them this," she handed me a piece of paper. "They will tell you which booth to go in." Then she hugged me and kissed my forehead.

"How long is the trip?" I asked

"It's like 17 hours long," she answered

"Ugh!" I replied, I hope it goes by quickly.

"Okay I will see you soon," she said with tears streaming down her face. I wiped them away.

"Don't worry," I assured her "I will be okay, goodbye Mom" I said. Hopefully this was the last goodbye I had to say for a while.

"Bye," she whispered.

I walked towards the train with my green bag that my mom packed for me, a giant suitcase that had bags of stuff that we just bought in it and April in her cage on top of the suitcase.

"Booth 67," The conductor said. I walked down. The train wasn't nearly as big from the outside as it was in. This must be from the magic. 65, 66, 67. There we are, but there's no one in here. We must have more stops because the other booths I passed had three each in them. It was very spacious in there. After I slid my bags under the seat. I laid down, put my hood on, turned my Ipod on, and drifted into sleep.

"Oh my God!" I heard a voice yell. I jumped up dazed and confused. I heard my Ipod drop to the floor. I looked around and there was Kass, standing there.

"Oh my god" I said. She dropped her bags and ran to me. We stood there for a good minute hugging.

"I can't believe you're here!" I said. I had never imagined Kass believing or participating in magic.

"I can't believe you're here!" she exclaimed; she picked up her bags and placed them under the seat on the other side. I checked my watch. I had been asleep for a little more than three hours.

"So what do you want to do?" Kass asked. I was surprised by how she seemed to recover so quickly from her statue like form.

"I don't know," I said "Did you bring your Nintendo D.S.?"

"Yeah, lets play" she said sitting down looking through her bag. We played for a solid hour and then there was a knock on the door. I jumped up to open it.

"Hello" I said. It was the conductor. I wonder how the train was being driven, magic probably.

"We still have a long way to go but it is in your best interest to change into your uniforms," the conductor said.

"Can I still wear my sweatshirt?" I asked, he looked me up and down.

"Yes that is fine," he answered

He left and I shut the door.

"I'll go change into my clothes first then you can go," I told Kass. I grabbed my clothes and went to the nearest bathroom to change. After I changed I looked at myself in the mirror. I had my rainbow Nikes on still with long, knee high, black socks that we are required to wear. I also had a red plaid skirt on with a black sweater. I pulled my sweatshirt over my head and brushed my medium brown hair and teeth. I felt fresher now. I left the bathroom and walked back toward the booth. When I got back Kass was sitting there talking. I looked over to the other side.

"Oh my God!" I practically screamed. Then Mabel stood up and ran to me. She gave me a big bear hug.

"Lesley! Kass was just telling me you were here and I couldn't believe my ears!" she exclaimed

"I can't believe my eyes!" I exclaimed back. We chatted for a while then we played our Nintendo D.S.'s for about 4 hours.

*************************

"Mabel, I forgot to tell you. You have to change to your uniform," I said

"Okay. Here pull down the blinds on the door and go stand in front of it." Mabel ordered.

I stood outside the door and leaned against it. Then out of nowhere I saw him coming. He was beautiful. He had deep aqua blue eyes and dark brown hair that was almost black. His hair looked like he went through a tornado but in a sexy, neat way. He had his uniform on, and his shirt was rather tight showing off his muscles.

"Hey," he said, breaking into my ogling.

"Uh, hey" I said after catching my breath, which probably made me look metal since it took so long to compose myself.

"What are you doing?" he asked with caution. His voice was heaven to my ears. It was so nice to talk to someone new.

"Oh, ha, I'm watching the door for my friend, Mabel, while she's changing. So no one comes in on accident," I said.

"Your friend?" he questioned. Awe, he was so cute.

"Yeah, somehow my friend from Maryland, Mabel, and my friend from New York, Kass, happens to go here and have the same booth." I explained, "I used to live in those states, plus many others."

"It must be fun having someone you know here," he said

"Yeah-" I started to say but then I fell back and landed on my butt. Kass and Mabel stood there laughing because they opened the door on me. He was laughing too. Then I couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah it's really fun having friends here" I said sarcastically. He held out his hand to help me up. His hand was cold and he had a firm grasp. He picked me up with ease.

"I'm just kidding, I love them," I said and turned to look at them, but they were looking at him.

"I've got to go but maybe I'll see you around, I hope" he said with a smile.

"Yeah me too" I answered with a returning smile. He walked away so smoothly. When he was a good amount away I turned around and squealed and they did with me.

"Oh my God, Lesley, you are so lucky!" Kass said with enthusiasm.

"Yeah, he was totally into you!" Mabel added. I blushed.

"Maybe he could be your first boyfriend!" she squealed, but stopped when she saw my face that automatically turned to stone. I let a tear slide down my face, I wiped it away quickly.

"I'm so sorry Lesley. I don't know what I said, but I'm sorry about it," Mabel said, she sounded and looked sincerely sorry.

"I'm fine," I lied, "I, um, have to go to the bathroom" I lied again, I'm sure they knew that. I just had to get out of there before I busted into tears in front of them. I got up swiftly and bolted out the door. And, of course, _He _had to be walking by there. I was sure he would see me but I didn't care. I just had to get to that bathroom. It was a slow motion moment again. I walked right by him and he slowly turned watching me. When I was in the bathroom I sank to the floor and held my arms around myself like I was hugging myself. After about five minutes, I got up and wiped my face the best I could and splashed some cold water on me. I opened the bathroom door and turned around. I practically jumped out of my skin when I saw him. He was standing there staring at me; _great now he thinks I'm a freak_, I thought.

"Are you okay? I saw you were upset and I wanted to make sure you were alright." he said.

I was having a strong sense of déjà vu.

"No, I'm fine," I lied

"Are you sure?" he pushed

"Yeah I'm positive" I lied as I was walking backward.

"Wait!" he said putting his hand out. I furrowed my brow and before I could figure out what he was trying to tell me I walked smack into the middle of a pole.

"Ow!" I exclaimed, rubbing the back of my head.

"Are you okay?" he asked chuckling.

"Yeah I'm fine, again" I said.

"I was going to tell you to watch out but I never got your name." he said while he was walking closer to me. I caught a whiff of him and he smelled so good, I was sure I was asleep.

"Oh, I totally forgot, I'm Lesley Hacker" I said holding out my hand. I wanted to touch him more than I wanted to be polite by shaking hands.

"I'm Logan Baker," he introduced himself taking my hand.

"I hear we're going to stop in about 9 hours, just for the heads up." he said.

"Okay, maybe I'll see you later?" I asked.

"Yeah, and watch out for those poles. I hear they keep randomly popping up," Logan said. I laughed.

"I'll try." I said turning around. As I started walking away I turned and looked back. He was standing there staring at me. It made me feel happy and I felt a thrill of fear at the same time.

"Lesley, I am so sorry. Kass just explained everything to me. I had no idea." Mabel said standing up as I walked in.

I glanced over at Kass. How much could she possibly know when she wasn't even talking to me then?

"Its fine, I just haven't really had time to recover," I said, which was the truth. "Oh yeah, Logan said were going to be stopping in like 9 hours." I noted.

"Logan?" Kass questioned

"Yeah that cute boy I was talking to earlier. He saw me rushing to the bathroom and stayed to make sure I was okay," I said remembering the time something so similar had happened not to long ago. I pushed that memory away.

"Tell me everything!" Mabel ordered.

I told them what happened. After that we packed our stuff and just did our own thing. I was daydreaming listening to my Ipod and so were they. My daydream, about Logan, got interrupted by a loud screeching noise. I flicked my eyes open. I saw Kass and Mabel do the same thing right after me. The train was stopping. I looked outside. The train stopping wasn't what surprised me, it was the fact that we were on a bridge, over a giant, rushing river. I turned my Ipod off. So did Kass and Mabel. There was a crackling noise like fire in a fireplace. I slowly turned to look out the window again. My eyes darted over at the water bottle that was boiling as if it were on a stove. The window got foggy. I placed my hand against it. From reflex my hand snapped back. The window felt like it was on fire. The silence was deafening. There seemed to be an almost eerie sound. The door started rattling, but I couldn't see anything because the blinds were still closed. Then suddenly the door flung open and a gust of heat blew in from the opening. There was a figure that was all black as I could see. It was wearing a black cloak and floated. I froze and Kass and Mabel did too. The figure turned and, I guess, looked at me. It started moving toward me. Then I felt all tingly inside. I felt like I was being emptied from my body. It placed a grey, bony hand on my shoulder. The thing's hand was shaking rapidly and I felt suddenly weak. I started lying down. I heard someone scream. I saw a flash of light, and I felt the tingling going away. The only thing about the tingling being gone was that it was replaced by blackness.

*************************************

I could hear people talking and moving around me but I couldn't see anything. I started blinking my eyes and the scene started to appear slowly. First, I saw Mabel with her head buried in her hands, and then I looked and saw Kass looking out the window. Her eyes had red rings around them. Then I saw Logan. He was staring my way but not at me. Him being there made me catch my breath, which everyone must have heard because they all turned to look at me.

"Lesley!" Mabel stood up alarmed, Kass and Logan both stood up after.

"Lesley, Are you all right?" Logan asked in a serious voice. I stared at him wondering what al the fuss was about. Then it all rushed back to me. I gasped.

"I remember," I murmured

"Are you all right?" Logan pressed.

"Yeah, I feel-" I got cut off because when I tried to lean up I got a bad head rush. "Ah!" I gasped. It hurt a lot.

"Here," Logan handed me a bag of gummy worms.

"Gummy worms?" I questioned. He smiled.

"Just eat it. It'll make you feel better"

"Okay," I said, taking a bite of one, "What happened?" I asked. "What was that thing?"

"It was a Familiar. It takes out peoples souls. It usually guards the prison and doesn't leave unless it is sent," Mabel said

"So, you're saying someone sent it for me?" I exclaimed.

"We don't know yet, they're investigating it," she replied.

"How long have I been," I paused, looking for the right words "unconscious?"

"You were out for about 20 minutes," Kass piped up.

"Are we at Opal Berry yet?"

"No," she answered "We have ten minutes till then." There was one question bothering me deeply.

"How did it stop?" I paused "Why did it stop?"

"Logan," Kass said then paused. Mabel finished for her.

"He cast a spell and it repelled the thing. Then you fainted."

I smiled at Logan. He must really like me to put his life in danger to save mine. He smiled back, but it wasn't like 'I'm an awesome person for saving you' it was an 'I'm glad I saved you, you were worth it' smile. It made my stomach do flips. There was a screeching noise again and my head snapped over to the window.

"Calm down Lesley," Logan said as he pressed his cold hand on my cheek. "We're just at the school."

I turned and looked at him. He stared straight into my eyes and I couldn't look away until there was a knock on the door and we both looked away at the same time. It was the conductor.

"Please exit the train and leave your belongings" he said and walked away. Logan stood up and held out his hand for me to take. I grabbed it and he led me out the door into the line of the other young wizards. Kass and Mabel followed.

"Hold on" I said; taking off my sweatshirt and tossing it on top of my bags. Logan was walking right next to me. I glanced up at him. He was staring at me. I couldn't place the expression on his face though. It looked like he was torn between something, something that I didn't know. I turned away. We stopped with the others at a giant door.

"I am Professor Kilo" a lady with a long robe and what looked like a witch's hat on said.

"When you enter the dining room we will take you to the sorting bucket. The sorting bucket will put you into your house. Then you will sit with the students from your house and have dinner." she said; then she turned around and opened the grand doors. Behind the doors lay a giant room with four long tables mostly filled with students with an empty space, which I guess must be for us. We followed her to the front of the room where there was a stool with a bucket that was glowing on it.

"When I call your name please come here and stick your hand in. Then you will pull out the paper and announce whatever team it says on there. There are three teams." Professor Kilo said, and she pointed to the door. The doors swung open and a giant lion, a giant hawk, and a giant fox walked in.

"I am team Puma" The lion roared. A table started clapping, which I figured was team Puma.

"I am Team Falk" The hawk screeched. Another table started clapping.

"And I am Team Sotsona" The fox said in a low voice. The last table clapped loudly. The animals went to stand by their teams table.

Professor Kilo paused and looked at the list.

"Logan Baker!" she called. My heart skipped a beat. He walked gracefully up to the chair. He gave off no expression.

Logan looked at the paper and read:

"Since you saved someone earlier. That takes a great amount of courage."

Logan glanced at me and I looked down blushing because some turned to look at me.

"I say Falk!" he continued. A table directly behind me started cheering and clapping. I turned around. They were dressed in blue and green and the usual uniform. He got up and walked over to the table and sat down with a smile on his face. Some more people went. Then there was this boy who got called up. I noticed his name was Otto. There wasn't anything else on the paper other than Sotsona.

"Uh, Sotsona," Mabel hissed.

"What?" I asked

"All bad wizards have been on Sotsona; never any other group."

"Oh," was all I could say. I never knew there were bad wizards.

"Mabel Kemp!" the professor called. Caity walked up there and got Falk.

"Kass Darley!" the professor called next. She, too, got Falk.

"Lesley Hacker!" I was called up. I walked stiffly; focusing on not tripping on the stairs. I stuck my hand in the bucket. It was a weird feeling, like I was getting a hand massage. I pulled the paper out.

"Your mind is very different then the rest. You have quite different aspects on life." I read. I looked down ashamed. I knew why too. It was because I had given up on magic and believing a while back. _Please not Sotsona, please not Sotsona _I thought to myself. I continued, "You're a very tough decision but I will say Falk." I smiled and went down the stairs and sat next to Kass and Mabel. They were smiling too. I glanced over at Logan, who was on the opposite side of the table about five people away from me. He was smiling a great big smile.

After we ate they led us to a picture.

"What's the password?" The picture said. I jumped. I didn't know pictures could talk.

"Feathers," an older boy said; then he turned around to face us. The wall behind him was opening.

"That is your password to enter our "house". Your items will already be inside your room on a bed. There are lists on the doors of who's in that particular room." he turned and started to go inside. He pointed to the right. "Girls on the right." Then he pointed toward the left "Boys on the left. This is the communal room."

I looked around. The room had a big fireplace that was lit and a table in the middle of it. There were three couches. It was very big. Everyone parted to go find there room. Mabel, Kass, and I stuck together. We were nearing the end of the long hallway with at least 15 doors on each side. Then we came to the last door and I squealed reading the names. We all had the same room. I found my stuff on top of a bed by the window. My comforter was the one I had at home. It had all color, giant polka dots on it. The walls of the room were brick like the whole school. I looked around; we each had a dresser and night stand. There was one bathroom for us to share but it was a three-sink bathroom. There was also a flat-screen TV. On top of our beds were our bags. I looked on my dresser which had my stereo and most of my other important stuff was in a box. We all started unpacking our clothes and items from each of our boxes.

After we all took showers and changed into our pj's we went in the communal room. I brought my laptop out and we just talked to each other. I checked my email. I had some emails, all from my mom. I checked the first one.

_Lesley,_

_Hello! Are you there? Answer me!_

The second one said:

_Lesley, if you do not answer me I will call the school. I have something important to tell you._

That scared me. I wrote back.

_Mom, calm down. Yes I'm here. I got team Falk. You will never believe who is here. Kass Darley and Mabel Kemp! And we all happened to get the same booth, the same team, and now the same room. It's really nice here. I could get used to it. It took me so long to answer because we had to eat and get sorted and unpack, plus I took a shower. What do you have to tell that's so important?_

I sent it and waited for her to return the message. I looked around. There were some people on a laptop like me and some just talking like Kass and Mabel. Then I noticed Logan was there. He was sitting on the couch across from me, laughing with some friends he made. Who wouldn't want to be friends with him? He glanced up and saw me looking at him; I looked down at the computer again. My mom had written back. I opened it.

_Lesley, I can't believe that they're there. I'm glad you like it there and are settling in okay. I'll tell you the thing in a minute but I heard about the Familiar on the train. Are you okay? How did it stop?_

_Write back now. Mom._

I clicked reply and started typing.

_Yes I'm okay. This really nice boy I met on the train a little while before saved me. He must have saw it happening and cast a spell and I passed out after that. Then they told me what happened. Now tell me what is important!_

I clicked send. While I waited I changed the screen on my laptop from a flower to a river. I checked my mail and she had written back.

_Who is this guy? What's his name? Is he nice?_

_Mom._

I wrote back.

_I already told you he's nice. I guess were kind of friends now. His name is Logan Baker. Now tell me!_

_Love, Lesley._

I sent it. Then I waited. Just staring and thinking. The thing saying I got a new message popped up. I opened it.

_Lesley, don't freak out but when I got back from dropping you off there was someone sitting on the porch. It was Rex._

I felt my face harden and my eyes get watery.

_He stood up when he saw me and asked if you were here. I told him you were with your dad and he asked where your dad lived. So I told him you already left for Florida with him. You should have seen his face. It was so full of regret. He said he would text you but I told him it would be better if he emailed you and I gave him your email. So be expecting one from him._

_I'm sorry, Mom._

I felt a tear escape and I put down my laptop and ran out and down the hallway to our room and into the bathroom and sat down and cried.

I laid on the bathroom floor. I don't know how long I had been in there though. I replayed the scene in my head. I remember reading the message, and then I got up and put the laptop down. I remember seeing Mabel stand up and go to try to follow me; and I remember hearing Kass call my name. The one thing that confused me the most was what Logan did. He stopped in mid sentence with a look of pain on his face. He stood up like Mabel, but he didn't move. _I don't know why he cares so much; it's sort of bothering me_ I thought. I have never had anyone really care for me a lot.

I decided to get off the nice, cold floor. I have to be awake for school tomorrow. I opened the door slowly and went to my bed. The clock said 12:30. I had been in there for two and a half hours. I lay down in my bed. I must have fallen asleep quick because the next thing I remember was our alarm clock blaring. I saw Kass get up to get it.

"Look," Kass said holding up papers "These are our schedules and our locker numbers." she passed them out. It said all our school stuff will be in there and by the classes it had what we would need for that class. We all got dressed. No one said anything about last night. I saw my laptop on my dresser; someone must have put it away. I wondered if they saw the email.

After, like ten minutes of searching, I found my locker. It was the size of any other and had 4 books in it with a couple of folders. My first class was Plant Biology. I wondered how that was going to be. When I got there, after searching, I saw that neither Kass nor Mabel had that class. Of course, though, Logan had it.

"Lesley you are seated in the middle row, third table" a woman said. She had long, blonde hair with a blue robe on. I noticed on the blackboard it said her name was Professor Hazel. I already knew I would be seated next to Logan since there was only two seats open and I just didn't have that kind of luck. When I sat down he didn't say anything to me.

"Okay" Professor Hazel said. "You notice you have a plant between you and your partner. You just say Largemos Growmos and flick your wand." Then she demonstrated for us. The plant grew about and inch taller.

"Keep doing that until I tell you to stop, and take turns with your partner. Begin" the professor said. Logan turned around smiling.

"What are you smiling about" I asked a little rudely. He better not be smiling about what happened last night.

"Nothing, just irony," he said. I raised an eyebrow.

"You don't think it's ironic that, out of all the classes and all the seats, we're together?" he said still smiling. My stomach did a flip when he said 'we're'.

"I do," I said politely. Then he said the spell, flicked his wand, and the plant grew. I was afraid to do mine. I'm not very good at aim; which was exactly what happened. I said the spell and flicked my wrist. Instead of the plant growing Logan's pencil behind it grew. He chuckled. Even though I was mad at him for laughing his voice was so soothing.

"Thanks, I needed a longer pencil," he said laughing, and then stopped when he realized what he said. I laughed, blushing.

"Wait, I didn't mean it like that!" he said bushing too, holding up his hand in surrender. But when he held up his hand he knocked over the plant which made me laugh even harder. I was laughing so bad I had to put my face in my arms. He was laughing hard too.

"Something funny Lesley? Logan?" Professor Hazel said looking at us. My head flicked up and I saw everyone was looking at us. We both stopped laughing. Finally everyone went back to there spells.

"Nice!" I commented. He grabbed my hand.

"Here, you flick the wand and point towards the plant," he said sarcastically and smiling; showing me how to do it.

"I know," I said sharply, pulling my hand away from his, though I didn't want to.

"It's not my fault I have aiming problems," I mumbled. Then I did the spell again and got it right. We did it for a little while longer; the plant was almost touching the ceiling.

"Okay, now say Smallmos Growmos, which will shrink your plant." Professor Hazel said. We did it a couple times.

"Lesley, can I ask you something?" Logan asked, his eyes burning into mine. I looked away.

"Technically you just did," I pointed out. He laughed softly.

"A different one," he replied.

"Sure," I said slowly, I wasn't sure what to expect.

"Why were you upset last night?" he asked. I was in the middle of the spell and his question caught me of guard so I slipped and it got the pencil behind the plant again. He turned his head to look at the pencil and smiled lightly. I could see he knew why I missed. I stared at him, bewildered. Then the bell rang. I took my chance and grabbed my books and darted out the door. He followed me, of course.

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. You don't have to answer." he said when I stopped at my locker.

"Don't you have to go to your locker or something?" I asked sharply.

"Oh yeah." he said. He turned around and walked about two steps and stopped. He started twirling the lock.

"Your locker is here?" I asked bewildered.

"Well of course." he said

"Great," I muttered, and then I turned around and slammed my locker.

"Why do you care anyway?"

"I'm," he paused, speaking lowly "not sure"

That wasn't good enough an answer for me. I walked away. And he let me go.

I didn't have any other class with him other than Lunch and Plant Biology, or so I thought. It was my last period and I had Demon Defense. My teacher was Professor Emiliano and he sat me at an empty table.

"Today we're doing a spell where-" he started but got cut off by someone opening the door.

"I'm sorry I'm late," a voice said "I just got here today." I turned around to see a familiar face whose voice rang in my ears. I looked around to see if anyone noticed me shudder, but everyone was turned around too. I also noticed that Logan was there. He must have thought that it would be better not to sit with me.

"What is your name boy?" The professor asked in a voice that sounded like he had a cold.

"My name is Rex Palmer," Rex replied. I snapped my head back to the front of the desk.

"You can sit next to Lesley Hacker. That's the lady in the third row, second table," The professor said. I heard the books fall. I stiffened.

"Is there a problem boy?" the professor asked.

"No, not at all," Rex stuttered. We both sat there the whole class not saying anything or making eye contact. The bell rang, and I darted out when I heard the first ring. I was flustered and I felt my eyes getting watery. I saw Logan staring at me when I was furiously throwing my books in my locker. I slammed the door shut and ran to my room. I sat in the corner of the room by my bed. I got myself back together quicker, it only took a half an hour.

"Lesley, we're all going to play scrabble out, oh. I'm sorry. I'll come back later," Mabel said

"No, no it's okay. I'll play," I said getting up. My legs were a little shaky. I saw there were Kass, Logan, Mabel, and some other boy who I later found out as Austin, sitting there. We played for a while with Logan staring at me the whole time. I pretended I didn't notice. We were all having a blast and laughing when the door opened. I stopped laughing and froze. There in the doorway, coming in, was Rex. I saw Logan following my gaze to Rex. It was the only time he didn't look at me. Rex was staring right at me. I looked down.

"Whose turn is it?" I said softly, avoiding Logan's burning gaze.


	3. Mending

_What is wrong?_

He passed the paper over to me.

_Nothing Logan, mind your own freaking business._

I passed it back. He stared at me.

_I want to help you_

I laughed to myself. I'd heard that before and look where it led me.

_You're nosey_

He laughed.

_What's your point?_

_I don't like nosey people, and if you are going to be nosey at least be more discrete about it._

He started writing but we felt a smack on the back of our heads. It was Professor Hazel. She took the note and tossed it into the fire.

"You haven't seen the last of me" Logan whispered in my ear. I sighed.

"I wish you wouldn't try. You don't want to know." The bell rang.

He didn't say anything to me the rest of the evening. After dinner I took a shower, got on my flannel pajamas, and went to read 'Twilight' in the common room.

"What if I told you that there was a real Edward Cullen?" a voice asked from behind the couch.

"I would demand proof and if you gave it to me I'd run around screaming with joy." I turned around. It was Logan. He started walking around the couch to sit in the empty space next to me. I sighed.

"Am I annoying you?" he asked sitting down.

"Frankly, yes you are because I know what you're going to ask and I know what I'm going to say." I said.

"Can you see the future or something like Alice?" he asked smirking.

"You've read the book?" I asked surprised.

"I see it as a guideline for how guys should act," he said. I slammed the book shut.

"Who told you I say that? Are you stalking me now?" I exclaimed. He sat up straight.

"I swear I never knew you said that!" he said. I leaned back against the couch with my arms crossed.

"What did I do this time?" he asked sighing. I stared at him with my mouth open. He had the nerve to sigh at me when he keeps pestering me. I got up and grabbed my book. I started walking toward my room.

"Oh, come on Lesley. You're so stubborn," he groaned, and I stopped in mid-walk. I turned slowly. I saw everyone looking at us. I didn't care though.

"You don't know anything about me. You saw me upset once but that doesn't give you the right to meddle in my business," I said through my gritted teeth. His mouth fell open. I turned around and walked into my room slamming the door behind me.

About five minutes later there was a knock on my door. I walked over to it but didn't open it.

"Who is it?" I asked leaning my ear against the door.

"It's me," the angelic voice said softly, or it appeared that way through the closed door. I slid down the door, sitting on the floor, leaning against the door.

"You don't have to open the door, just hear me out," he said, I heard him sliding down the door to sit on the floor too.

"I know that it is rude of me to be asking these questions and pushing them on you. I just wanted to get to know you, and you have very big mood swings, and-"

"Thanks for informing me that I have big mood swings, I never noticed," I said sarcastically, interrupting him.

"Can I finish?" he asked, more as a demand.

"Go right on ahead," I said in a tone that said I didn't even want to know. Even though I know I wanted to know, which was bothering me.

"Okay, well I really want to know you because, well, I kind of find you interesting and frankly fascinating," he said.

"So what, am I like your science project?" I asked, I just wanted to push him because I could tell in his voice there was more that he wanted to say. I just wanted to ensure that he said it.

"I should go," he said quickly. I heard him getting up. I turned full body toward the door and pressed my hands against the door. I wanted to touch him so badly, to sooth him.

"Please don't go," I said softly but loud enough for him to hear. I heard him pause, and he started to sit back down.

"Rex," I started "That's why." I took a deep breath, and started.

"So that's why I was upset on the train, but it wasn't Mabel's fault. She didn't know. And then when I saw Rex come through those doors that day I could barley control myself. I just had to get out of there," I explained.

"What about that day you were on your laptop?" he hadn't commented the whole hour that I was explaining to him. He must think I'm an emotional freak.

"You don't want to hear about it," I said softly.

"Please tell me," he demanded. I figured it would come out sometime.

"I got an email from my mom that told me that when she got back from dropping me off he was sitting there on our porch. My mom told him that I had already left. She told me she saw so much pain in his face that she would never forget," I said softly.

He didn't say anything, I heard him get up.

"I think I should leave, it's late," he said lowly. I looked at the clock. It was only 9:30. I knew this would happen.

"Goodbye," I whispered, I knew I was saying this for more than the fact he was leaving right now.

I woke up to the alarm clock, but I realized it was a weekend. Kass must have too because she got up, turned it off, and went back to bed. The next time I woke up I was shaking. It wasn't because I was cold though, it was because someone was purposely trying to wake me up.

"What?" I groaned "You know its Saturday."

"Thank you Captain Obvious, I know that. You got a note from under the door. I haven't read it yet but I want you to read it now. I've been waiting for twenty minutes!" Kass said in an eager voice.

"Ugh fine. Give me the note," I said getting up on my bed. I grabbed the note from her hand.

"Read it out loud!" She said plopping down next to me.

"I know" I snapped. I didn't like being woken up. I looked the note over. It had very neat handwriting on it.

"Okay, it reads.

Dear Lesley, I thought things over last night and I want to talk to you. They are taking a trolley over to town at 10:00. If you want to come with me I will meet you by our lockers at 9:45. If you do not come I will get your message. Hopefully, see you there. Logan." I read. I stared open mouthed.

"So are you going to go?" Kass exclaimed. I flipped half my body toward the clock. It read 9:30. I hoped up and ran into the bathroom. I flipped my hair straighter on and got dressed. I ended up wearing a purple tube top with a black long sleeve shirt under it with my favorite pair of jeans on it and my ugs on. I literally ran to the lockers, and as I turned the corner I saw him there. He had his head down and he was walking the other way, I guess leaving.

"Wait" I called. I ran up to him and grabbed his arm pulling him to face me. He stared at me intently. A smile spread across his face.

"Did you really think I wasn't coming after I just spilled you my pathetic life story? I don't just tell anybody, my friends are lucky if they get something out of me. And did you-" he cut me off by placing his finger on my lips.

"Actually I did think you weren't coming." he reached down and put my hand in his and started leading the way.

"I didn't think you were coming because of the way I just left you after you told me something that was obviously hard for you to tell." he stared down at me. I stared in his eyes, and then I looked away quickly. I didn't deserve him.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked in a confused voice. He was probably confused because I refused to look him in the eyes. We got to the trolley and he helped me get in. We sat there while the others boarded.

"I can't tell you, I can't even explain it." I said softly. Still in disbelief that someone cared so much about me.

"I will try to keep up." he said.

"I wish you wouldn't" I grumbled. "I just don't," I took my hand out of his. "I don't deserve you." I looked down. The trolley started moving. He laughed. I furrowed my brow.

"What's so funny?" I asked; his laughing made me kind of mad.

"How can you not see how truly wonderful you are." I blushed. He put his finger under my chin and lifted my head up.

"You are even prettier when you blush like that. I didn't think you could get anymore prettier," he said, flirting. I blushed again. I couldn't look down so I looked away with my eyes. He smiled, and then he stood up when the trolley stopped. He grabbed my hand and pulled me off the bus. When we got off he spread his fingers into mine.

"Want to get some breakfast?" he asked looking at me. His hands were very cold but felt good despite the cold weather. I smiled at him.

We sat at a both together eating. We didn't talk most of the time, instead we just stared into each others eyes. After we ate we went to look at the little shops nearby. We went into a shop with antiques by my request. I saw a little music box. It was beautiful; it had little floral design on it and when you opened it there was a place for jewelry. The tune it sang was so beautiful that it couldn't be described in words. I stared in awe at it. I swirled it around to read the inscription that circled around it. It read:

"You may use all types of magic for your whole life. But the purest, strongest magic is in love."

It was beautiful. I turned it over on the bottom to see the price. It was $500. I put it down quickly, I could barley even afford to hold it let alone buy it. We spent all day there hanging out. We finally left with the last trolley at 6:30. When we got back it was 7:00. I started heading to my room, but Logan grabbed my arm.

"Are you coming back out here?" he asked, looking back to the couch where Rex sat. I knew what he was thinking.

"Yes I'm coming back out. Meet me at the couch." I started to walk away again but he grabbed me around the waist. I was surprised. We had only really been at the holding hand level. He gave me a hug.

"I think you should talk to him." He said to me, his face buried in my hair. I pulled away. I stared at him confused. I would think he'd be the last person to tell me that.

"I'll consider it." I said hugging him again. We stayed like that for a while; it just felt right this way. We finally parted, not saying anything. Kass and Mabel weren't there so I assumed they were going to the movies like they'd planned. I am glad that they're getting along so fast. I put on my favorite pajamas, a black t-shirt with my short heart shorts. There were a lot of people surrounding the TV because the movie 'Quarantine' was coming on and everyone planned to watch it tonight. Logan was sitting on "our" couch. No one else was sitting there so he must have told people I was coming. I was about to sit down but I decided I should get something over with first.

"Rex, can I speak to you?" I asked. He looked up surprised, but he got up and came over to me. I looked down for a minute but decided I should face him head on.

"I just want to make sure everything is okay between us," I said awkwardly, twisting my fingers.

"Actually, Lesley, I don't think it is," he said straight forward. I looked up abruptly.

"What do you mean?" I asked cautiously, biting my lip.

"Are you with that guy, Logan, now?" he asked, staring at me.

"Well yeah I guess." I turned to look at Logan and smiled.

"Lesley, you know that I wouldn't have broken up with you if I didn't have to," he put his hand on my arm. I shrugged it off mad.

"You didn't _have_ to do anything. You made that choice and now you're going to have to face the consequences. I really like Logan and you're not going to mess that up for me," I said, staring him straight in the eyes. He grabbed my hand.

"Lesley, I know you're not over me yet. Please, I'm sorry, just take me back. He isn't what you want," he turned and gave Logan a deadly stare. _If looks could kill_ I thought. I pulled my hand away harshly.

"The hell I want to be with you!" I said quite loudly, and everyone turned and looked at us. I turned sharply and went to go sit next to Logan. Luckily the movie started so everyone turned to watch it. I buried my head in Logan's chest. He caressed my hair. After I composed myself I curled up next to Logan to watch the movie. He put his arm around me. I was glad to have him next to me so I could burry my face on his chest when a scary part came. He just chuckled at my reactions.

When the movie was over every one left and we stared into each others eyes, he was still playing with my hair. He smiled.

"Do you think you'll be okay or do you need me to keep the monsters away?" he asked. His words almost knocked the breath out of me. I smiled and looked up. He was staring at me. I scooted up on him so I could get higher up. Then it was so unexpected but expected. We moved in closer to each other. I could smell his body scent, it smelled so sweet. I was glad I took a shower and brushed my teeth before I watched the movie. We moved very slowly and unsure. Then finally are lips were only a centimeter apart. I could feel his breath on my lips. Then we moved closer, are lips finally touching. The kiss was so powerful, like it was supposed to happen. We moved in sync with each other, his hand stopped where it was in my hair. I put both my arms around his neck pulling him closer to me. We were both breathing heavily so I didn't feel as embarrassed. Then he started to push me toward the couch. I was lying on my back and he was over me with as little body weight as he could put on me. Then we slowly parted, I stared at him and he stared back. The connection was so intense I couldn't look away. Neither of us said anything for a while. Finally I spoke up.

"That was nice," I said, breaking a smile. He smiled back.

"It was," he replied getting off of me so I could lean up.

"I don't want to leave yet," I said when he was getting up. He took my hand and pulled me off the couch. He touched his cold hand to my face. He smiled.

"Don't worry. I'll see you in the morning," he said.

"Do you promise?" I asked softly. He grabbed my face in between his hands and kissed my forehead.

"I promise," he said back softly. Then we both went to our rooms.


	4. Convincing

I felt a cold brush against my cheek.

"She sleeps till like noon. It's ridiculous." I heard Kass say.

"I'll come back later" I heard a voice say, but I couldn't hear who it was because I was falling back into sleep. When I woke again I knew why I didn't get up before. Right when I tried to raise myself up I felt a giant head rush.

"Ugh," I groaned.

"What?" Mabel asked.

"I think I have a fever." I mumbled. All of a sudden I felt a funny feeling in my stomach. I got up and darted for the bathroom. I held my hair back and kneeled over the toilet.

"Ew!" I heard Kass squeal when she heard me throw up. I heard a knock on the door.

"Lesley, Are you okay?" Mabel asked.

"Yeah just give me a minute." I said. I got up and brushed my teeth and cleaned off the toilet. I walked outside. I saw Kass on her laptop and Mabel was reading a book, both of them on their bed.

"I'm going to go to the clinic." I said, grabbing a blanket because I was freezing. I walked there slowly, I was too afraid to walk any faster. When I got to the clinic I got my temperature taken and I had a fever. They gave me some aspirin to take and told me to come back in 4 hours. I stayed in bed all day reading my book and on my laptop. I was writing some of my book on my laptop listening to Disney music. I liked it and didn't see anything wrong with that. There was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Mabel called from the bathroom; she was getting ready to go on a date. The door opened.

"It's me." Logan said. He walked over to me and placed his hand on my head. It felt good.

"Hey." I said softly, trying to smile the best I can.

"Are you feeling any better?" He asked, sitting down on my bed by me.

"Does it look like it?" I asked. He chuckled.

"I figured your friends would like a break." He said turning to them. Kass got up and grabbed her purse.

"Oh my God. You're a life saver. Thank you." Kass said running out.

"I was about to leave anyway. Sorry Lesley, you know I would stay." Mabel said from the bathroom. She grabbed her purse and headed for the door.

"It's okay, enjoy yourself!" I called to her as she was leaving.

"Some friends," I grumbled. I placed my laptop on my nightstand and took my blanket off.

"What are you listening to?" he asked. I blushed.

"It's a Disney song. From the movie 'Anastasia' it's called 'Once Upon a December'." I said. He got up.

"Can you restart it?" he asked. I was confused by his request but did it anyway. He grabbed my hand and pulled me up slowly. He put his arm around my waist and grabbed my hand. We started dancing like they do in the movie and in the old times. I laughed.

"What?" he asked smiling.

"I always imagined dancing like this but I didn't think it would happen. And if it did I didn't think it would be with someone I liked so much." I said.

He twirled me around.

"You know there is a dance coming up. Where you dance like this for certain dances and then dance regular the rest."

"Oh really, when?" I asked, like I didn't know what he was going to do.

"Well it's in a week from today." he said

"Oh, yes well what about it" I asked, acting clueless.

"Well, I was wondering, since you like me so much, if you wanted to go with me?" he asked. He dropped me back so my head hanged down.

"Think I'll have to get back to you on that." I said playfully.

"Is that so?" he said playfully back. Then he dropped me on the bed and leaned over me.

"Do you need some convincing?" he asked, leaning closer to me.

"I think a lot of convincing is needed" I replied back, happy about where this was going. It was like all my sickness had gone away. He came on my bed hovering over me. He grabbed my hand, lifting my arm up. He kissed my hand then making his way up my arm kissing me. Then he got to my face. He kissed my neck then moved up to my cheek then my forehead. Then he kissed my other cheek and back down to the other side of my neck.

"Are you convinced yet?" he asked lingering by my face. I smiled.

"I'm still a little hazy in my decision." I said playfully. He smiled. He moved up and kissed my nose.

"You're going to get sick from my cold." I said. I didn't want him to be stuck in bed too.

"Convinced yet?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"Hmm," I said in a questionable tone. He stared me straight in the eyes. He started leaning closer to me, only an inch away from my lips. He was just about to kiss me when the door flew open. We both shot our heads to see who had intruded on our perfect moment. Kass blushed.

"Oh, I'm sorry." she said looking down. Logan got up.

"I just wanted to tell you that something's happening down stairs, a fight." she continued. We both hopped up. I swayed, but Logan caught me.

"You should stay in bed." he said concerned.

"No, this is the only excitement I've had all day." I said smiling because the real reason I swayed was not from being sick. We started down the hallway. I saw the shy boy Austin there and a boy named Dustin, who I had heard was mean.

"Give it back!" Austin ordered.

"What? Are you going to go cry to your mommy? Oh, that's right; she's gone and left you here!" Dustin said with a sneer in his voice. That must have done it because next I saw Dustin flying across the room, Logan's arm shot up in front of my body. Then Dustin sneered, he took the class thing he had been holding and threw it up and held his wand up. Then I saw Logan tackle Dustin and Dustin's fire missed to a light bulb instead.

"Get off of me!" Dustin shouted. Logan shot up and walked back over to me. Austin ran to get the item and picked it up, running off. Dustin glared at the boy as he ran off.

"You'll be sorry 'bout that." Dustin threatened.

"We'll see about that." Logan said confidently. Dustin stalked off. Logan reached down and grabbed my hand. He pulled me back toward his room. I had never been in there before and I was anxious to see what it looked like on the inside.

"I'm sorry about the way I acted" he said quickly, his back turned to me. I walked up to him and put my hand on his shoulder.

"What are you talking about?" I said "That was the kindest thing anyone has ever done." I pulled him to face me. He smiled, glad I guess of my approval.

"It's just too bad that you still don't know who you're going to the dance with yet." I said playfully. He twirled me around and grabbed around my waist and kissed me fiercely. When we were kissing he lightly pushed me on the bed. After a little while of kissing the door opened and then there were cheers that followed.

"Woo, Logan, you go man!" A boy said. We parted and I looked down blushing. He laughed, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. I finally looked around at his room. It was surprisingly neat and it had normal stuff like a TV and stereo, he had a lot of Cd's which made me happy that we had something in common. And then, when I was looking around, something caught my eye. I got up and walked over to it, picking it up.

"You have all the Twilight books?" I asked surprised, turning to him. He laughed lightly.

"You never know. I might learn a few things from there." he winked.

"Oh, yeah" I didn't know what he was talking about at all.

"We have a lot in common." I said walking toward him. He grabbed my hand and had me sit on his lap.

"Hm, like what?" he said looking around the room.

"Well clearly a love of music, liking 'Twilight', both going to the dance together…" I replied, smiling at him when I mentioned the dance.

"You know with all that convincing maybe I don't want to go to the dance anymore." he said slowly, a smiling creasing at the top of his mouth.

"Do you need convincing?" I asked, but before he could answer I started kissing him for "convincing".

"Ugh, I'm out of here." the boy said exiting the room. We parted are lips so we could laugh but our foreheads were still touching, like we couldn't be disconnected.

"So when are you going to get a dress, because I'm going to need to know what type of flowers to by you." he said smiling. I returned the smile.

"Let me warn you that I am not wearing heels. They're like a death sentence for me" I said remembering the various times I have slipped. He laughed lightly.

"What did you have in mind then?" he asked between his chuckles. This time I laughed.


	5. Music Box

"Okay, let's go!" Mabel said grabbing her bag.

"I'm so excited!" I squealed running to the door.

"I know!" Kass squealed too. We started walking towards the trolley so we could buy a dress for the dance. As we were walking I saw Rex heading this way. As we passed him he glared at me, I guess he heard the news that I was going to the dance with Logan. Everyone had heard. We hopped on the trolley, luckily we were the first stop or I might have died from anticipation. We got off and looked for the store. When we were looking for the store I noticed the one where I had seen the music box.

"I'll meet you guys there, I have to see something." I said walking toward the store.

"Um okay," Kass said giving Mabel a look. I opened the door to the store and went to the spot where I had first seen the music box. It was gone. I went up to the store clerk.

"Um, I was wondering what had happened to the music box that used to be over ther?" I asked pointing toward the empty space that used to contain a music box.

"Oh, a young man bought it about 2 days ago." she said smiling "He seemed very happy about it. He said he was buying it for his girlfriend and then was going to buy her a necklace for a special occasion."

"She must be a very lucky girl then." I said trying to smile. I was hoping to buy it later in the month, but I was happy someone got it for someone they loved. I walked out and down towards the store. I followed the sign that said where the dresses were until I found them looking in a rack.

"Hey, find what you were looking for?" Mabel asked.

"Kind of…" I said sheepishly. I started to look through the racks. After, like, an hour we all found dresses. Kass's was a light blue dress that wrapped around her neck and was a little longer than knee-length. Mabel's was an olive green dress with a black pattern on it. I got a dress that was pink underneath and it had a triangle shaped top. The pink showed out of the top and at the bottom it had pink frills. We went to the accessory department. I got a headband that was pink and had a pink bow on the side. I also got black earrings that had a beautiful pattern to it. Kass and Mabel also got accessories to match there dress. Then we moved on to the shoe department.

"Do you see any Converses?" I asked looking down the isle.

"I found them, but why?" Mabel shouted from two isles down. I walked down to her.

"Because I refuse to wear heels. I'd have a better chance of living if I jumped off a bridge." I said looking for the right color.

"Hmm, Lesley." Kass laughed.

"Found them!" I exclaimed holding up a pair of pink high-tops, smiling.

When we were done Kass ended up getting a pair of silver heels and Mabel got a pair of black heels that strap up your leg to your mid-calf.

******************************

We got back home and we were just hanging out and studying for the test that was the next day. There was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Kass called, not looking up from her book. It was Logan. He came in and sat next to me where I was looking over a few papers. He kissed my forehead.

"Can I see your dress?" he asked. I smiled because I knew my plan.

"Nope," I smiled.

"What? Why not?" he said lifting my face up with his finger.

"Because I don't want you to see it. I want it to be a surprise but I will tell you that, if you're going to buy me flowers, they'd have to be pink. That is all I am telling you." I said, he groaned at my response.

"Stop being such a baby, it is only three days away!" I pointed out.

**********************************

I should have never said that because it was the longest three days of my life. But the day came, obviously, that was inevitable. We were all scurrying around the room trying to get ready, the bathroom seemed to get suddenly smaller. I was straightening my hair and put my headband in. I went over to our full-length mirror. I had told Logan that he had to meet me there. It was fun to torture him. I looked at myself. The difference since I came here was dramatic. It was like Logan had lit me up. My dark brown eyes seemed vibrant. I was still pale but it was a pretty pale. My medium brown hair was nice and straight. It laid on my back nicely, and my headband gave it a cute look. My converses would definitely be a conversation starter, but it was better than falling. I walked over to my dresser. To get a necklace but there was a knock on the door. I ran to it and laid my ear on the door.

"Who is it?" I asked

"It's Austin, to pick up Kass." Austin said. I looked over to Kass who motioned me to open the door. I opened it. He looked over at Kass and smiled.

"You look beautiful," he said walking over to her, his hand out to take hers.

"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot." He pulled out a music box, I recognized it quickly. And he pulled two sets of flowers from behind him. "Lesley, Logan told me to give this to you." He handed over a pink bouquet of flowers

"And this." He handed over the music box. I covered my mouth surprised. I felt my eyes get watery.

"I'm the girl," I said in a whisper to myself.

"What?" Kass asked. I heard Mabel awe off to the side.

"I'm just, this is so sweet." I said putting the flowers down on my dresser, in a vase that Logan demanded I buy, and I took the box from Austin.

"He told me to tell you to open it." Austin said. I opened it and the music started playing. Something in it caught my eye, I picked it up. It was a necklace, the shape was a heart and you could feel it was real silver. I looked at it and it had words engraved on it. It read: Logan & Lesley on one side and Forever on the other side. I started crying, it was beautiful. I wiped the tears away and put the necklace on. I walked over to the mirror and looked at myself, I was complete.

"Perfect," I murmured.

"I will see you later" Kass said. Right when they were leaving John came to pick Mabel up.

"You'll be okay, right?" Mabel asked, heading out the door, turning to look at me.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute." I assured her. I needed to fix my makeup since I ruined it by crying.

After I touched up I walked out the door and down the stairs to get to the ballroom. When I got to the first step of the grand stairs, which would lead me to where the dance was, I saw Logan. He was talking to someone and as I started down the stairs he turned to see me. A giant smile spread across his face. He turned his whole body to face me. I noticed a lot of people turning to see me. I heard someone say the word beautiful. When I got halfway down the stairs I couldn't help it. I broke into a run and when I got close to him I threw my arms around him.

"Thank you so much for the necklace, and the music box. How did you know?" I asked.

"I went back to the store and asked the clerk which one you were looking at. She said you looked like you wanted it badly. So I got it." He replied

I pushed him to arms length and stared at him.

"I love you." I said. It felt right. I had never said that to anyone other than my parents. He looked me straight in the eye.

"I love you forever and always Lesley Hacker. I could never live with out you in the real world or magic world." he said, and then finished with a kiss. I smiled.

"Do you want to dance?" he asked.

"Do I have to?" I answered with another question.

"Yes." he said pulling me to the floor.

There were lights strung everywhere and music booming all over. It was so pretty and grand. There were tables set aside for a place to eat and a table full of food. Everyone that was dancing, which weren't many, were dancing formally.

"This is the part of the dance where we have to dance formally." he said smiling. He put his arm around my waist and his hand in mine.

"Oh, joy!" I said sarcastically. We danced through two whole songs gracefully, not stopping. At one point people had made a circle around us watching us. Practice makes perfect.

"Okay I have to go to the bathroom," I said heading toward the bathrooms.

"I'll be here." he said taking a seat. I started walking down the long hallway. I saw Rex leaned against the stairs. When I walked by him he stood upright and walked to me, I stopped.

"Lesley, please, here me out," Rex paused, and then continued when I made no comment. "I know we got off on the wrong foot when I came back. I just want you to consider your options," I scowled "And I know you know what we had could have been something big." he said.

"Well maybe you should have thought your one action through first!" I snapped, turning to go back down the hallway, but Rex grabbed my arm and twirled me around. Then he kissed me fiercely, as if he was trying to make his point more clear. I pushed away, stared at him.

"How could you do that?" I yelled, I felt tears starting to form in my eyes. I hated that I start to cry when I get mad. I pushed him and turned and ran to the bathroom with tears running down my face. I was glad there was no one in the hallway except the boy Otto. I saw him turn to watch me run away. I got into the bathroom and slammed my stall door shut and cried for a good 5 minutes. When I got out I was lucky there was another girl in there with a purse.

"Can I use some of your makeup?" I asked the girl. She must have noticed that I had been crying because she pushed it toward me and gave me a sheepish smile. I fixed myself up and ran down the hallway to save time. When I got back Logan raised up a questionable eyebrow.

"There was a long line." I said trying my best to smile. We danced the rest of the night but I knew, in the back of my mind, that the thought would later return to me tonight. After we danced some more the "polite" way, we got into modern time dancing. It was fun to watch Logan dance because he was so graceful it looked weird. So we ended up mostly slow dancing and chatting. There were a lot of people there and they had a giant cake. I had the best time of my life and couldn't think of anyone better to share it with. I didn't see Rex at the dance anymore. So that made it even better. The dance ended unfortunately. Logan walked me back to my room and we lingered by the door.

"Please don't go," I pleaded, bringing my hand up to his face. He grabbed my hand and pressed it to his cheek.

"Maybe I can stay a little while longer." He said smiling. There was no on e else in the room because Kass and Mabel went on a double date, with their dates from the ball, to a restaurant. I never really felt like hanging out with them since it was so much better to hang out with Logan. Plus Kass was acting all weird and pretty rude to me lately. I lay on my bed, thinking about how weird my life is. Logan laid down next to me.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked, turning his head to face me. I still looked up though.

"Just thinking about how my life goes from something great to something bad so fast, it's like the good things never happen." I said, finally turning to look at him.

"This thing will last long." He said, caressing my face. We just laid there for a while.

*************************************

I must have fallen asleep because when I woke up I was still in my dress. I got up on my shoulders. I saw Kass and Mabel were still asleep in their beds, they must have been out late. I looked over on my other side; Logan was there next to me. He was still sleeping so I picked his hand up off from around my waist, grabbed some clothes, and hopped into the shower. When I got out everyone was still sound asleep so I grabbed my hair dryer and went into the common room. After I blow dried my hair I got some makeup on and went to go to lay back next to Logan. I was so glad it was summer now, I hate the winter. It seemed like nice weather so I opened the window. I burst of fresh air came through and felt nice and warm. I laid next to Logan, thinking. He looked so sweet sleeping. I wished it would be this way forever. Then it all came back to me. I remembered the kiss, I was so mad at Rex my eyes started getting watery again. I curled up in a ball so incase Logan woke up he wouldn't see me crying. I decided I wouldn't tell Logan, he wouldn't need to know since nothing, in fact, had happened. I felt the same way as I did last night. It didn't look like they were getting up anytime soon so I went downstairs to get some coffee for them all. We had a nice built in Coffee shop that was a bit better then Starbucks but practically the same. I got a double chocolaty chip frappe chino and a regular coffee for Logan. I got Kass a caramel coffee and Mabel the same as me. When I was walking back I saw Rex and glared at him, he looked at me too. It looked like he was trying to see if I had made my decision. I walked back to the room trying to juggle 4 coffees. I should have gotten a cup holder. When I got back Kass was dressed and on the computer. Mabel, I heard, was in the shower, but Logan wasn't there.

"Got coffee!" I exclaimed, Kass hopping up to claim hers. "Where's Logan?" I asked handing her it.

"Oh, he said he'd be right back. I think he went to change and get a shower. I was confused when I woke up seeing him there. I thought I got the wrong room." We both laughed. "Why was he here?" she asked

"We were just talking and I guess we both fell asleep." I said, handing Mabel her coffee because she just got out of the bathroom.

"Yeah I was wondering the same thing!" Mabel said laughing. I grabbed my coffee and sat on my bed. As if on cue, Logan knocked and came in. He came over to me and gave me a short kiss.

"I got you coffee too." I said pointing to his cup. He went over, grabbed it, and sat next to me.

"You were up early," He noted, putting his cold arm around me.

"Yeah, you guys all slept like rocks. I took a shower and everything." I said smiling. "Ah, I'm so glad its spring. I can finally wear shorts." I said stretching out.

"Yeah I'm glad too." Logan said looking me up and down. He winked. I gave him a playful shove.

"Ugh, tomorrow's Monday. I hate Mondays!" I groaned.

"What are you complaining about? We have a whole good Sunday to spend together."

That is exactly what we did. We spent the whole entire day together. Most of the time we didn't even talk. Just being together was a blessing. I wore the necklace he bought me everyday and he had bought himself one also, just on a chain instead.

"I have never loved anyone more than I love you. And I don't know if I ever will." I said as I was wrapped in his arms.

"My heart belongs to you now." He said tightening his grip on me. I hope he never lets go.

***************************************

Before we knew it, it was June already. The last time I remembered it was April. Those two months flew by with grace. We spent every waking minute with each other and did all types of things. I was dreading the up coming summer, but we decided to go with our own families for a while then spend the rest of the summer together. Though I couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling that he wasn't telling me everything.

*****************************************

"You know we don't know a lot about each other." I noted as we were at our lockers at the end of the school day.

"Hmm," Logan answered, his face was in some sort of disagreement. I didn't know what about either, that bothered me.

"I think we should talk, later." I said, turning full body to him.

"Sure, I'll pick you up." He replied, not looking at me.

"I, um, have to go do something" He said, he kissed my head and left so fast I couldn't even reply.

When he came to pick me up I was on the computer.

"Where do you want to go?" Logan asked me. He seemed to be in a better mood than before. I hoped it was because he had made up his mind about whatever he was worried about. I found out later that the answer was yes, he did decide.

"I don't know. Do you have any recommendations?" I asked, I was sure he would. He smiled and grabbed my hand.

We were at a private spot out in the park alone. He had brought an ample amount of food for us to picnic with.

"Logan! How much food did you get?" I complained.

"I want this to be as romantic as possible." he said, looking up from the blanket of food to see my reaction.

"It is really romantic, but this stuff looks really expensive. Please tell me you didn't spend a lot."

"I will tell you that if you want me to lie," I groaned "I have more than enough money. I glad to spend it on someone other then me, and Kendall"

I must have given him the reaction he expected.

"You have spent way too much money on me. How can you even afford this? Are you insane? No one should spend this much on me." I said in a loud tone.

"Shh, tone it down a bit. And relax, I have plenty of money." he said looking back at the blanket. "You have no idea" he murmured. I wonder if he wanted me to here this or not and who is Kendall.

"No, you weren't supposed to hear that and Kendall is my cousin." he said not looking up.

"What? I didn't even say anything," I said, staring at him intently and confused. I saw his face go wide with surprise then a little blank as he tried to cover that emotion. I gasped as I realized what I had just witnessed.

"Oh, my God. I must be asleep. This whole month must be a dream. Maybe I really am going crazy!" I said very quickly that it was like a jumble of words. Logan must have heard every word though.

"Lesley, calm down, let me explain. I didn't want you to find out like this. I should have paid more attention. I'm sorry. You must think I'm a freak." he admitted releasing my hand. I tried to sort through my mind to finally say something so he didn't think that I didn't want to be with him.

"I still want to be with you no matter what you can or can't do." I said.

"Go ahead, ask me all you want, but do it in your head. I don't want anyone to over hear."

_Can you really here what I'm thinking?_ I thought. He laughed.

"Yes I can, obviously!" he said, then waited for my next question.

_Are you what I think you are?_ I thought slowly. His face went into a phase of different emotions.

"Yes." he said slowly and consciously. I felt a jumble of thoughts go through my head.

"Calm down, you're hurting my head," he said placing his hand to his head.

"Sorry." I mumbled, embarrassed.

_How come you're not all shiny in the sun, like in the books?_ I thought. He laughed loudly this time. I told him to be quiet in my mind. He silenced.

"Okay, I think I should start by explaining the faults of the book," he said, then paused, "We do not do half the things they say we do in those books. We can sleep, we don't shine in the light, and we have better control then they say."

_Do you listen to my thoughts a lot?_ I thought

"The truth?" he asked, I nodded. He nodded yes. I looked away. Great. Now he knows everything about me so why are we even here.

"There are things that I don't know about you and if you don't want me to listen I won't." he said, listening to my thoughts.

_I'll think about it_ I thought. I took a deep breath. I was ready, now, to ask this important question.

_What do you eat?_ I thought, I felt like I was in the book. He laughed so loud that people started staring.

"What?" I demanded. He calmed down enough to answer me.

"We don't go around drinking blood, we just need one dose of it a month and the school provides it for us"

_Us?_ I thought

"Yes, there are others of us, but I cannot tell you who. Plus I don't think you know them." He said.

_Can they read thoughts too?_

"Most of us can. It's rare to find someone who can't. Like my cousin"

_Can you run really fast?_

He disappeared for a second and came back with a ketchup bottle.

_I'll take that as a yes._

He chuckled.

_Are you really old?_

He stopped smiling, probably debating whether to tell me or not.

"Much older then they even portray in the books." he said, not looking at me. I closed my eyes. I had figured this kind of reaction.

_Please, I thought we were going to figure stuff out about each other. _

He flicked his head back in my direction. He put his hand on his head in a swift movement.

"998" he mumbled.

_Wow. _

I reached over to his hand and grabbed it.

_I don't care how old you are or what you are. I love you so much, nothing can change that. And who's Kendall?_

"Kendall is my cousin, my real blood related cousin"

_Is she a vampire too?_

He said nothing.

_I'll take that as a yes. What about the rest of your family?_

"My family died a long time ago like they were supposed to. My cousin and I got attacked, but they didn't. Now we just pretend we're siblings and have someone adopt us every time our adopted parents…pass on."

We finally started eating and talked, like normal people, about the things we liked and things we didn't. I found out we have a lot in common. There was a question I wanted to ask him badly.

"Okay, I have decided that I don't want you to hear my thoughts. Sorry, but your going to have to ask me about things on your own." I said smiling, I continued "But there is one last thing I want to make clear, now don't freak out like in the book. I want you forever and I want to be with you forever for real." I said with all my heart. His face went through every emotion possible and finally landed on anger.

"How could you even say that? You're crazy. I'm not going to do that to you." He said in a harsh voice that took me aback.

"You know what happens at the end of the book anyway!" I pushed, and then blushed when I thought about what also happened in that book. I saw he blushed too.

"I mean that she gets turned into a-" I paused, then whispered "Vampire" He thought for a moment. He quickly packed up the picnic stuff and placed it into the basket.

"Lets get some ice cream and we will talk about it then." he suggested. I rolled my eyes. We both ordered some ice cream and he handed the cashier $40.

"Keep the rest. I don't need it" he said, flashing her a smile.

"Thanks!" the cashier stuttered.

"Are you crazy?" I exclaimed as we left. "I would die to have a forty dollars just handed to me!"

"Do you want one?" he asked reaching for his wallet. I smacked his hand away.

"No" I said to him like I would to a dog being bad. He chuckled

We sat on a swing bench that was hanging from a tree.

"I remember reading about this cup. It is called the Blaze Cup. You fill it with water and drink the whole cup immediately. Then you live forever. You only have to drink it every five years."

I pondered the idea. It seemed like the best I was going to get and I didn't have to drink blood.

"When?" I asked.

"It only comes out during the spring so we just missed it. You have to go through a series of difficult strategies to find it. I would find it for you, obviously. So I guess when you turn 16."

"Do you promise with all your heart?" I asked in a harsh meaningful tone. He looked me in the eyes.

"I promise" he said then he pulled me closer to him and kissed me

We finished our ice cream and started walking again.

"I'm sure you're dying to try something. So do you want to try it?" he asked as we were walking to the trolley.

"Sure" I said cautiously. He grabbed my hand and started pulling me the other way.

"What are we-" I started, but he interrupted.

"Calm down" he said. We got behind a building and stood there for a second.

"Are you ready" He asked.

"Am I ready for-" I started but he grabbed my hand and pulled me into his arms quickly. I soon noticed we were running. Fast. The warm air felt good against my bare legs. Soon we were at my door and he set me down.

"Oh my God. That was such a thrill and felt good and it was so quick" I said. I opened the door and ran to my window, I felt suddenly slow after that. I saw the trolley was still on the high way. I laughed at them. Then I turned around and ran to Logan. When I got close enough I hopped on him, putting my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck. I kissed him fiercely. He held my up like I was a feather.

"You're the best boyfriend ever." I said as he set me on my bed. I stood up on my bed and went into a stance like superhero.

"Super-boyfriend!" I said in that voice that announced super people. He laughed and grabbed around my knees and brought me down on the bed. I laughed.

"It's almost summer." I pointed out, when I was looking out the window. We were both leaning against it. I pushed him over a little to open the window.

"Have you ever tried walking on this?" he asked pointing to this edge that was hanging of the wall.

"Umm, maybe if I were suicidal! We're on the 2nd floor, did you notice." I said, leaning my head over the window.

"We should try it" he suggested with a smile on his cute face. I stared back at him.

"Yeah, I'm sure no one would notice two people walking on the side of the building!" I exclaimed throwing my hands in the air.

"Well obviously we wouldn't do it in the day." he said smugly.

"Oh sorry I was to busy thinking of how crazy that is to think of obvious options." I said. He was smiling at me.

"What?" I exclaimed. He laughed at my reaction to his smile.

"Do you really think that I'd let anything happen to you? Remember I'm-" He paused, getting on top of the bed in a superhero position "Super-boyfriend!"

"Okay super-boyfriend and girl we have to get to the dining room fast" Mabel said entering the room. I flicked my head to the clock. We had only five minutes.

"I totally forgot!" I said getting up and heading toward the door.

"Quick we have run. We can't be late again." Mabel said going down the hallway. Us three broke out into a run.

"We must be going to slow for you." I whispered to Logan playfully. He laughed.

"Yeah, you guys are like turtles." he agreed.

"Oh I'm sorry!" I said sarcastically, and then I stopped and faked walking slowly.

"Lesley! Come on!" Mabel urged.

"Don't worry. I got her." Logan said then he swept me off my feet and was carrying me.

"Oh my God! Put me down!" I urged banging on his back.

"You don't think anyone will notice you holding me with ease!" I whispered sharply. He still didn't put me down until we got to the entrance of the dining room. Professor Miroslav had already started talking so we hurried to the empty space by Kass.

"How nice of you to join us." Miroslav said to us. I looked down blushing. LOgan rubbed my back.

"As you might have heard there are a significant amount of Familiars going around still and I have seen some of you are worried." He paused, then continued, "We have decided that, until this is over, you are permitted to stay in your houses unless escorted by a teacher." The whole lunched room groaned in unison. I really didn't mind since Logan and my friends were all with me, but how am I supposed to get coffee now. I could probably have Logan run somewhere and get me some. The thing that really bothered me was that I didn't even notice because Logan and I were in our own little world for the past month and that I now realized I was deadly afraid of Familiars. I stiffed.

"It's okay, I'll protect you." Logan whispered in my ear.

"I know you are all disappointed, but this will all blow over soon enough. You may continue eating." Miroslav finished.

"Do you know why?" I asked Logan. He leaned in a whispered to me

"Usually when the Blaze Cup comes out they come. No one knows why though."

When we finished eating they escorted each group in a single-file line. We almost took up the whole hallway. Logan and I were almost last in line so when we got back to the common area everyone was talking. I cupped my hands over my ears from the loudness. I heard a teacher say something and everyone started to there room. Logan pushed me toward mine.

"I'll see you soon" he said walking toward his room. I wonder what that meant.


	6. Tricks

I flashed my eyes open when I felt a bump on my bed. I was facing the door and could see a little light coming through it. I didn't remember opening it. The bump was probably Kass or Mabel getting up to go to the bathroom and hit my bed in spite of the dark. I closed my eyes again and started to scoot to the other side on my bed. I felt something cold and hard in the open spot. I opened my eyes to see Logan's face right in front of mine and fell of the bed from surprise. I landed right into Logan's lap. He must have gotten to the other side of the bed to catch me. He lifted me back onto the bed. I sat up crossed-legged.

"What are you doing here?" I hissed at him as he started to sit on my bed.

"Don't you remember how we were going to going outside?" he asked like I was mental or something.

"I thought you were joking!" I exclaimed "Anyway how did you get in here?" He cocked his head toward the slightly open door. I got up and stuck my head out. I saw another door open around where Logan's room is. All of a sudden I felt his arms wrap around my waist and I was outside. We were standing on the little ledge off of the brick, outside wall. I looked down; it was higher than I remembered. I felt him slide his arm out from around me.

"Are you crazy?" I screamed. He put his hand on my mouth.

"Shh!" he said "People are sleeping. Now just walk like you're on a balance beam. It's really easy." he said and demonstrated. I started to walk and to my surprise I walk right up to him with ease.

"I told you that you could do it!" He said congratulating me. Then with a swift movement he kissed me. It was the most romantic thing ever, but I had to ruin it. I took a step back to balance myself from the intensity of the kiss and foot must have stepped on a rock because I lost my balance and slipped. I felt the air whipping past me, my stomach was doing flips. I let out a scream. All I could see was a full, bright moon in the dark, night sky. At least I got one last moment with Logan before my life ended. I felt something hard on my back but it didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. Then I realized I was still conscious. I saw some room lights flicker on from my screams. Then I felt the wind whipped me from an angle which wasn't down. Then I stopped moving all together. I felt air fill my lungs again and I started crying. I figured out that I was in Logan's arms and he must have caught me. I'm guessing he ran me away from the rooms that heard my screams so they wouldn't see us. He held me close to him.

"I am so sorry. I shouldn't have even let you go up there, let alone kiss you up there." Logan said frantically. I steadied my breathing as best as I could.

"I'm fine," I lied "Can I just get back to my bed now?" He started moving but I didn't open my eyes. I couldn't take anymore fast moving things. I remember feeling my bed and Logan stayed right next to me. I fell asleep instantly.

I opened my eyes to the loud noise of the alarm clock. I sat up when everything that happened last night came back to me. I got a head rush and plopped back down on my bed. I heard someone get up to turn it off and turn the lights on, it was Mabel. I got up and my head was a little better but still hurt from the shock of almost dying. I saw Kass get up from the corner of my eye.

"Did you hear that scream last night?" Kass asked. My eyes flickered over to her and back to what I was doing so it wouldn't be obvious.

"Yeah, but I was too lazy to get up and see what it was." Mabel replied heading toward the bathroom.

"Didn't you hear it Lesley?" Kass asked. I closed my bottle of mascara.

"Uh, no, I must have been heavily asleep." I mumbled giving her a sheepish smile. She looked at me for a long time but I still did my hair as if she wasn't looking. After I finished getting ready I went to the common room where everyone was standing, ready to be escorted. I looked for Logan but I couldn't find him. I saw Rex looking at me so I glared back at him. I felt a cold hand grab mine. I looked up and smiled at Logan. He looked back at me with a confused look, he wasn't smiling back.

"I'm fine." I mumbled, and that was the truth. I barely remembered anything and the pain in my head went away.

"I know." He said barely loud enough for me to hear. I wish I knew what was bothering him. I was about to ask, but then a teacher came to bring us out to our lockers.

********************************

It was the last period, Demon Defense.

"Everyone line up here!" Professor Emiliano said pointing toward and line on the ground that was in front of an arch thing. The arch had a blue transparent filling in it. I could tell it couldn't be good. Logan lined up right behind me and I was 4th in line.

"Today you are going to learn a little something about each of your class mates." Professor Emiliano said with a devilish smile creeping on the corners of his mouth. I was sure that I didn't want to know what was coming next.

"What you are doing is telling some secrets. This could be easy for some and really hard for others. You will step into the blue filling of the arch. You'll have 20 seconds to try to fight off the power. It will try to spill all your secrets. You must try to fight it off and you could possibly choose which ones you want it to say. Or it will choose for you. Be careful." he said, motioning the first girl in line to go. I felt bad for her. She clearly had trouble with this. She only lasted 5 seconds until she broke.

"I think I'm the reason for my parents divorce, I never had a boyfriend, I used to pick my nose, I was bulimic for a while, and I secretly have a crush on Rex Palmer!" She spit out. When she got pushed out of the arches harmful power she burst into tears and ran out of the room. I was so scared but I was also confident that I could at least hold off for a while. The second boy was just as bad. He told us all the girls he liked and all that he kissed. Also that he had a crush on me. When he mentioned this Logan nudged me playfully. I wanted to smile but I didn't want to hurt the boys' feelings because I could see he already felt bad enough. The boy in front of me was really good but at the last second he confessed that he liked watching chick-flicks. That got a good laugh. I was next. I felt my stomach doing flips frequently like I was making pancakes. At first my feet were frozen in place and Logan had to give me a little push to start moving toward the arch. The professor gave me the signal to step in. I moved into it. I felt a tingling feeling inside me at first, but then I felt it. It was like something was going through my brain for all my memories. There was a pain in my brain that was trying to force my mouth to say something but I wouldn't budge. I was mostly afraid of letting Logan's secret go then any of my own. I heard the professor say I had 5 seconds left and I felt the force give a powerful push. It won.

"Rex kissed me at the ball and now I'm afraid that I might still have feelings for him as much as I tell myself that I don't!" I blurted out. Right when I said it I threw my hands to my mouth, but I was too late. I felt the professor push my out of the arch. I saw Logan stiffen and Rex grin with delight. The scene started to get blurry from the water in my eyes. I remember hearing gasps when I blurted out my secret. Apparently everyone knew about me and Rex previously. Logan was up next and did it with ease. He said nothing. When Logan was done he loyally took his place next to me but you could feel the tension between us like a magnet with the opposite ends facing. I didn't hear anyone else's until Rex came up. He was almost done until he broke.

"Lesley fell for my plan!" he blurted. A series of gasps spread across the room. Logan's hands balled into fists. I hope he doesn't punch Rex because he could make a hole through his face. My face started to burn with the anger that I felt at myself and at Rex. I let a tear of defeat slip out of my eye.

The bell rang to release us to go to our lockers. There were teachers lined up watching the students. I hurried to put my stuff away so I could keep up with Logan. He was putting his stuff away at an alarming speed and slammed his locker shut.

"Wait, let me explain!" I called, finally catching up with him. I placed my hand on his arm and he quickly shook it off like it was a bug.

"What is there to explain?" He snapped still walking fast. I grabbed his arm and made him stop.

"Just listen to me. How could you even be mad at me? Didn't you already know?" I demanded. He looked at me bewildered.

"I kept to my promise like you asked me." He said harshly. I looked down feeling ashamed.

"But that was before I even knew!" I said bewilidered. He leaned down to my ear.

"Do you think I want to hear you go to the bathroom?" I blushed.

"We can get through this!" I pleaded. People were starting to watch us. They must have already gotten the news. "I just need time to think." I felt a tear start to slip out.

"Lesley, you have made your view pretty clear. The first day you told me I had decided to overlook it. I can't do that again. I don't see how this is going to work out when I can't trust you." He said, not even looking me in the face.

"I didn't do anything! He kissed me!" I yelled, sobbing now.

"You should have told me. I'm sorry but this isn't going to work out." He said, and then he started walking past me. I turned around but didn't move.

"How can you just overlook this past month? Please, I love you." I cried out in a hopeless attempt. He stopped for a moment.

"I can over look this and I will. I'm leaving for my house this weekend, for the summer. I'm sorry for what's happened I just-. I'm sorry that I don't love you anymore." He said and continued walking, his body stiff. Then I just broke down. Mabel rushed over to my side from seeing what happened. She brought me over to a wall and I just crumpled. I sat there and cried for hours. I have never cried that long in life, but it didn't surprise me. I just had my heart ripped apart. I was there for hours. I saw people pass me and stare at me. Some whispered to there friends about what they had heard happened. It didn't faze me though. I felt someone sit next to me. I figured it was Mabel or Kass since they had been taking turns sitting next to me and making sure I was still alive. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I knew instantly that it wasn't either of them because neither of them had touched me at all. I flick my head up to see who had disturbed the morning of my heart. I recognized the boy as Otto. He looked at me with earnest eyes. He started to get up, probably because he thought I was crazy. He stuck his hand out for me to take. I looked at him confused.

"Come on, I'll help you get to your bed. It's already eleven." he said. And when I wouldn't get up he bent down and grabbed me around the waist and pulled me up. I did what I was told. We walked all the way to my room with me leaning on him, but he didn't seem to mind. He brought me to the room and brought me to the bed. I laid in a ball on the bed. I wanted to tell him I'd like to see him soon or thank you, but nothing came out. I just laid there like my body was inhabitant.


	7. Parties

I lived on crackers and water for the next three weeks. I only got up to go to the bathroom and shower every two days. I couldn't leave and I wouldn't leave. Kass and Mabel didn't try to make me leave my bed. I told them they should go have fun. I didn't want to ruin there summer. The weeks past slow but I wasn't aware of it. I didn't bother worrying. Nothing could bother me, nothing hurt anymore. It was a sunny and, I guess, warm day. I was sleeping, I think. After a while I couldn't tell if I was awake or not. I felt the covers fligh off of me. It had to be Mabel who did it because Kass was gone for two more weeks with her family.

"That's it!" Mabel exclaimed. I groaned since she was bothering me.

"Lesley you are getting up now! I am not going to watch you wash away while the world goes on. And if you don't I will poor this bucket of freezing water on you." she threatened.

I groaned louder to get my point across. She apparently wouldn't take that. Next I felt a cold liquid cover me and I fell off the bed and landed hard on my butt. I glared at her.

"I have another one!" She threatened pointing toward the other bucket of water. I gave a motion as to say that I'd do what she wants.

"Good." She said, pleased with herself. "Now go take a shower and get dressed in clothes, not pajamas." She said. I got up and took a shower. I got dressed in grey sweat pants that sagged with black shorts underneath and a black tank-top. She looked me up and down. She smiled.

"Well, that's a start," She said. "Now go brush you teeth, put some makeup on, and blow-dry your hair." I glared at her, but seeing that the bucket was still full, I retreated.

After I finished my "chores" and got approved by my "guardian" she dragged me out to a restaurant. She said I needed to eat real food. We sat there and she babbled on trying to fill me in on what has happened since I have been in my dead state, as she calls it. The restaurant was mostly empty since most people had gone away for vacation. I had a strange feeling when I walked in here. It didn't dawn on me until now as to why it felt familiar. I burst into tears.

"Lesley, why are you crying?" Mabel hissed, looking around to see if anyone was staring.

"He took me here" I said through my sobs. She got up and sat next to me, patting my back.

"Its okay" she crooned. We got the check and left the restaurant. I couldn't let Mabel waste her summer on me and I definitely didn't want her to be hanging on me all summer. I came up with a plan.

*****************************************

For two weeks I did the same thing repeatedly. If anyone found out I was acting, they would probably sign me up for theatre. All I did everyday was eat, shower, read, and get dressed. It was a boring cycle and I would have rather preferred if I could just go back in my bed like the "dead" days. I was going to have to visit my parents soon too, which I wasn't looking forward too. I think Mabel could see through my charade but she had to leave to visit her family. Kass came back a few days later. I think she was so happy that she couldn't see through my phony act and Mabel obviously didn't say anything. A bird landed on my window and I opened it so I could pet the bird. I was glad April, my cat, wasn't around. I pet the bird and looked out the window. There I saw Rex standing. He noticed me looking and he held up flowers, signaling that they were for me. I narrowed my eyes. I knew he'd just leave them at my doorstep like he had been for the two weeks since I had gotten out of bed. I sighed and closed my window. I wonder when he is going too give up. I went back to reading Twilight. I haven't stopped reading it since He left. I looked over to see that Rex had left and I opened the window open to get a tan from my window. After about an hour of lying out, I decided to get some coffee. I was glad they finally got rid of the Familiars. My lack of coffee was killing me. I stepped out of my room and knocked over a vase of flowers. I picked it up and tossed it when I passed the garbage cans. When I got there only one person was there, beside the worker. I recognized him as Otto, the boy who helped me get back to my room. I saw him do a double take when he saw me. I guess he didn't hear the news that I was alive. He was staring at me so I gave him a sheepish smile. I ordered my drink and waited.

"I, um, never got the chance to thank you properly." I said awkwardly. He seemed to understand.

"Yeah, you're welcome. Are you feeling better?" he asked. I looked down, trying to think of an appropriate answer.

"Well, I'm walking now so I guess that counts for something." I said, giving him a little smile. I could see us easily being friends.

"$4.00." The worker said. I stuck my hand in my pocket and pulled out some money. Otto pushed my hand back.

"I got this one" he said, handing the worker a five dollar bill "Keep the change."

"Thanks." I said taking the coffee. "Do you want to hang out or something?" I asked "It gets really boring around here."

"Well I was going to watch a movie. You're welcome to come." he said holding out his arm for me to take. I put my arm through his.

"Sure. What movie?" I asked.

"Well, it's kind of a chick flick" he admitted. I stopped in my tracks. He looked at me confused. It all came back to me, the little details on that fateful day. I smiled.

"You were that guy in front of me!" I exclaimed "I was so worried about me going that I didn't notice that you were in front of me!" We started walking again.

"Yeah, I was going to say something but I didn't really want to bring it up. I didn't know how you would react." He said sheepishly.

"Oh, yeah." I said in barely a whisper. When I got myself back together I continued. "So what chick-flick?"

He laughed.

"Have you ever seen Titanic?" he asked. I laughed.

"Only a thousand times!"

He smiled.

"I can't believe you watch girl movies" I said.

"Hey, they are not only for girls. Girls just tend to watch them more!" he said with a playful nudge. When we got in there everyone stared at me.

"Why is everyone staring at me?" I whispered to Otto, not looking away from the stares. He leaned closer to me.

"I can tell you two reasons," he whispered back. I looked up at him as if to ask what they were.

"One is the incident… and another is that you're from Falk and we're from Sotsona." he continued

"Oh" I said, and gave them a smile. Otto pushed me toward his room. His side was clean but the others side were messy.

"Sorry, their spot is kind of messy."

I laughed. He patted on a spot on the bed for me to sit. He got down and put the movie in. He sat next to me on the bed. I hoped and hoped that I wouldn't start crying but that didn't help and I was bawling by the end of the movie.

"Lesley, come on, why are crying?" Otto asked. I started laughing and I cupped my hands over my face.

"It was because it was sad, but now I can't even stop!" I exclaimed between my sobs. He started laughing too and grabbed me, pulling me to his chest. I stopped crying and pulled away a little. I stared at him. I had never "really" looked at him. He had short blond hair and pretty green eyes. He was a handsome guy and very polite. Before I even registered what I was about to do I kissed him. I could feel that he wasn't kissing me back so I pulled away and stood up quickly.

"Wait, Lesley!" he said reaching his hand out to me. I shook my head.

"I'm so sorry. I don't know why I did that. I'm- I got to go!" I babbled. I ran out the door and I felt new tears spring up. I ran up to my door, accidentally kicking some flowers that Rex must have put down, but I ignored them. I grabbed my stuff and went into the bathroom for a nice long bath so Kass wouldn't be suspicious if I was lying in bed. While I lied in there I toyed with some ideas. I actually held my head underwater for a long amount of time but I just couldn't go through with it. I wondered that if I lie in there long enough that I would wrinkle up and die all shriveled and full of water. I think I'm just going to have to find a new way to make the days past without drawing suspicion. I figuered I could just watch a lot of movies. We had a nice selection of movies in one of our stores. I got out of the bathtub and slowly dried myself. I decided I would let my hair dry naturally so it would be wavy and free. Something I was not. I walked fast down to the store where you could rent movies to ensure that I didn't pass Otto or Rex. I got at least ten movies to keep me through the rest of the day and some of tomorrow.

I was to my fourth movie and it was around 10:30. Kass made no comment to my movie façade but I saw some of the looks she gave me. I could feel the distance forming between us, but I couldn't possibly expect her to understand. She had everything handed to her on a silver platter, as some would say. I sighed. Some had it so easy. There was a knock on the door that disrupted my disturbing thoughts. I got up and stretched my legs, I had only gotten up once for some more coffee. I walked over to the door and opened it. I recognized him as Luke, Rex's annoying friend who was practically his shadow and did whatever Rex told him to do. Hence right now. I sighed. I was really over Rex and his stupid attempts to get me to acknowledge him.

"What?" I asked in a rude voice but he didn't wince or anything. He was probably expecting my hostile attitude.

"Quick," he exclaimed "I need to explain. Rex said, and I quote, 'I blame myself for your horrible position and I want to apologize for my behavior. I want to help you as much as possible to get Logan back'" I grimaced at Logan's name. He grabbed my arm and started pulling me out of my room.

"Wait!" I exclaimed. I was barley even dressed. I had on my twilight sweatshirt on, a pair of cut off shorts, and some converses. He ignored me though and kept pulling me to the ballroom. I didn't remember any party announced but what did I know. There was a sign hanging above the door that clarified. It said happy birthday to Rex. I rolled my eyes, of course. Luke handed me a weird smelling drink and pushed me into the crowd. I took a couple of sips and then realized that everyone was different. They were all dressed up in outfits that looked like they were from the 1800's and they were all holding up something. Then I realized that they were holding up masks. Rex must be having a masked ball party. Of course he would go all out, surprise was his element. It usually wouldn't have taken me that long to figure something like that out. It must be that drink Luke gave me. I sniffed it again. It had a smell that made my nose tingle and a taste of some fruity mix. Who knows what is in this, Rex probably made it himself. Yikes! I finished that drink and picked another up that had a melon taste but still made my nose tingle. I walked around for a good twenty minutes searching for someone I knew. No one seemed to be anyone I know nor did any one approach me. I felt a little bit like I was floating and the room was swaying a bit. I picked up another drink that had a strawberry taste. I started getting anxious and nervous. Why couldn't I find Rex and why didn't he come to me? I was the only one not wearing a costume and he invited me. Now I was angry since he drew me away from my sulking and didn't even show himself. I was going to call for him in an angry pissed of tone but it didn't come out that way.

"Rex!" I slurred as I looked for him, being bumped around by dancing masked people.

"Rex!" I slurred louder this time but all I got was weird looks by some people by me. I gave it one more time.

"Rex!" I said in a loud clear voice. I once again only gained stares. Finally, then I gave up. I pushed through the people, ignoring their stares, till I found a wall. There was no one else leaning by the wall so I figure it should be a good spot to sulk. The music changed to a flouncy tune that fit the theme of the party. Suddenly everyone broke out into the formal dance that we had to do at the ball. They were all perfectly in line and not bumping into each other.

"I wonder how long they've been practicing." I mumbled to myself. Then I saw someone, the only person not dancing, coming toward me. The person was about my height and wearing a mask too. This person was wearing a cape, probably thinking they were important. This person, he, revealed himself to be Rex. No wonder why this person seemed to think they were important. It was birthday boy. He smiled a devilish grin at me that didn't seem apologetic, but that could be a side effect to the weird feeling I'm having. I didn't smile back, I had a bad feeling. That wasn't unusual though, since I tend to get a bad feeling around Rex.

"You said that you wanted to apologized." I slurred glaring at him. I'm regretting the fact that I didn't leave when he wasn't around.

"Um yeah, it's something like that." he said grinning wider. I glared at him, I didn't think that he could ruin my life anymore then he did. I was wrong. He moved closer to me. I back up but not much. My back was now pressed against the wall. He slid his arm around my waist. I moved to the side out of his arm.

"What do you want then?" I sneered. He smiled again despite my obvious rejection.

"You." he answered. Then he grabbed me by my arm and pulled me toward him. I tried to fight him off but I wasn't strong enough. Then his lips were on mine, crushing mine hard. I squealed and tried to push him off but he wouldn't budge. I couldn't understand why no one was helping me. I continued to hit him but he didn't move his lips off mine. I heard people laughing. I opened my eyes and they were laughing at us. I closed my eyes and felt a tear slip.

_How could they be laughing? Why weren't they helping me?_ I thought frantically. _And why was he doing this? Why couldn't he just leave me alone?_

I clearly don't want him. He pushed me toward at table and I sat on it. I was still trying to push him away with one hand and with the other I felt around the table for anything I could find. Everyone was still laughing and I felt more tears slip. Rex didn't even notice my hand feeling for anything on the table because he was too busy using his one hand to tangle in my hair and the other hand on the small of my back. Finally, through the napkins, I felt something that might stall him. I was wrong. I picked up a drink that someone had left on the table and poured it on top of his head. The watching crowd went into a series of whoops and more laughter. All he did was part our lips and whispered to me.

"Feisty, I like it" he growled and went back to kissing me. Then I heard in the crowd someone telling people to move and buzz off. Then I felt Rex come apart from me quickly.

"Hey get off of me!" Rex yelled. I opened my eyes to see Rex yelling at Otto who apparently pulled him off of me. Otto was dressed up too. I must have missed him before. I got off of the table.

"How 'bout you get off of her!" Otto said, "What is wrong with you people?" he asked to the bystanders.

"How 'bout you mind your own business?" Rex retorted. And that did it. Otto turned around like he was going to leave but then he turned quickly and punched Rex right in the nose. Rex fell down so quick and was now whimpering on the floor. I wanted to go and hug my savior and tell him I owe him so much but I couldn't get myself together.

"Thank you!" I spit out through my sobs. I threw the glass down right next to Rex and it shattered over him. Then I stepped forward and pushed past the crowd. I hope I knock some of them down for what they did. I finally got passed them and hurried out the door. I wasn't running but I was walking very quickly. I heard someone come outside.

"Lesley wait!" Otto called. I heard his footsteps getting quicker. I broke out into a run. I just wanted to be left alone. Why can't anyone understand that? It was bad enough that I got my heart ripped out twice and now I can't even get my last wish. I wish I would just disappear and that I could finish school and be alone. I'm finished with friends. I'm finished with boyfriends. I'm finished with it all. I got to our common room but it was empty, everyone must be at that stupid party. I turned the corner to go to my room and tripped. I considered, for a split second, just to stay there and never leave, but I had a better idea. I got back up and continued to my room. Kass wasn't there and I was glad for that. I dropped down to reach under my bag and got out my small duffle bag. I grabbed some random clothes out of my drawers, my pillow, and some of my bathroom stuff. I zipped it up and ran out. I left behind April since I knew Mabel would take care of her. I also left behind my wand.


	8. Blackness

"Ticket for train 11 1/2." I told the cashier. She handed me the ticket and I raced to the phone booth. I only had about 7 minutes before the train left. I grabbed the phone and dialed my dad's number. It took me three tries since I was still shaken up. I looked at myself in the glass reflection. No wonder why the cashier looked at me funny and Professor Miroslav let me go without much explanation. I was a mess. My hair was all tangled, probably from Rex, I had mascara running down my face, and I had bright red rings around my dead, brown eyes. The phone rang a couple times and my dad answered in a sleepy voice. I forgot it was around 10:00 at night.

"Hello?" my dad mumbled.

"Dad, I'm about to go on the train home. Mom doesn't know so don't tell her. Can you pick me up?" I asked. My voice must have been shaky too since my dad sounded suddenly awake.

"Okay, when do you want me to pick you up? Are you okay?" My dad said in a worried tone.

"Yeah I'm fine and the train stops at 3:00 in the afternoon." I said in a better composed voice then before.

"Okay are you sure your-" He started

"I have to go. I don't want to miss the train!" I said quickly, and then hung up. I really didn't want to miss the train, but I also didn't want my dad to get suspicious. I was grateful for the 18 hours I had to compose myself, to go back into my phony act. I heard the train blow its' warning whistle and picked up my bag. I sprinted over to the front and handed them my ticket. I got a good booth because no one else came. It probably had something to do with the fact that everyone who was going to leave for the summer had already left. It wasn't a long ride or at least it didn't feel that way. I fell asleep on the first hour I got on but it wasn't a pleasant dream.

*************************************

I was back at the party again but it was different. Everyone was still laughing but this time I actually looked around the crowd to see the faces. They didn't have their masks on anymore. My eyes scanned the crowd and I saw all people I knew. I saw Mabel and Kass, and then the nice kid Austin and I saw some more of people who I had gotten close to. Otto was one of them which scared me because who was going to pull the person kissing me off of me. I couldn't remember who it was that was kissing me though. The weirdest one that I saw laughing was Rex and it all came to me that he was supposed to be the one kissing me. The most painful one was who I saw next to Rex with his arm around Rex like they were best buds. It was Logan. I felt my eyes get blurry again. I found the strength to push whoever it was kissing me off of me. I pushed the person to the ground. He smiled at me. It was Rex but he was in a clown costume. I hate clowns. It wasn't a normal clown costume either, it was a scary one. He stared up at me with a devils grin. The makeup around his lips was red but smeared. My hand shot up to my mouth and I wiped something off my face. It was red like his makeup but then it turned into a thick liquid. It was blood. Rex hoped back up but he backed away. My eyes shot over to Logan's face. It was hostile and his eyes were completely black. He glared at me with hunger. Then he crouched down and right when he pounced I let out a blood curling scream which woke me up. I was still screaming when I woke up. I was all sticky with sweat. I then decided that I wasn't going to sleep the rest of the trip.

***********************

I was mad I forgot my Nintendo D.S. and my book. So I decided to listen to my Ipod. I made sure the volume was really loud so I wouldn't fall asleep and I could drown out all the other noise. I didn't realize how hungry was until the candy cart came and I bought one of almost all the candy. When I finished the candy I got up to throw away the wrappers. I had to pass my old booth from last time. My mind flashed back to the first time I saw Logan. I shuddered. I tried to steer away from those memories. I didn't look at the booth when I passed it again. I didn't want any more memories.

The rest of the trip I was debating on stuff I could do to get me out of hanging out with people. I considered faking that I had a bad cold but that would only work for a little while. I could just sleep late, do things really slow, and I could practice some off my cooking. Cooking would take up time and I would have to make frequent trips to the store for supplies. I decided to stick with that plan.

Before I was glad that I had a lot of time to clear out my head and compose myself, but now I regret it. It was too much time. I realized that I wasn't safe inside my head. I kept bringing out painful memories and things that would hurt someone for no reason. After a while of torture I went back to my Ipod so I wouldn't fall asleep, I could block out other people, and so I could keep myself out of my dangerous head.

*********************

There was a knock on the door. I sighed and got up to open it. It was the conductor.

"I just want to inform you that you have 30 minutes till your stop." he said in a formal voice.

"Oh shoot. Okay, thank you." I replied, I didn't realize that time went too quickly. It somehow went slowly too. I went over to my bag and grabbed a pair of clothes. I found some of my red Sophie shorts and a white shirt with a picture of a volleyball on it. I grabbed my toothbrush and my hairbrush and makeup. I raced to the bathroom. It was going to take me a long time to look somewhat calm. I got rid of most of the redness around my eyes so that it looked like it was just from sleeping. My hair was still a mess and I usually would have thrown it up into a ponytail but my hair being down always seemed protective and I liked not being exposed. I felt more comfortable that way even though it was going to be really hot in Florida. Ugh and I just remembered that I'm going to have to say 'Hi' to everyone since they haven't seen me yet, even more of a reason to stay at dads for longer. I grabbed my stuff and stuffed it into my duffel bag. The train halted to a stop. Good timing. I grabbed my stuff and walked stiffly toward the exit. I took a deep breath and stepped outside. It was really hot compared to the temperature at the school. I never noticed but I did now, that I have no idea where the school is located. Where ever it is its really cold in the winter and mild in the summer, unlike here. I searched for the familiar face of my dad. When I spotted him relief washed over me. He was someone I could trust and love. I ran as fast as I could to him, with this heavy bag on my arm. I gave him a big bear hug. I was so glad to see him. I grinned so big like a fool.

"I'm glad you still didn't shave your head!" I teased playfully. He had said he wanted to since he was balding, but I said if he did I wouldn't visit.

"I almost did!" he teased back. He held his hand out to grab my bag and I handed it to him. We were talking a lot in the car. I didn't miss the worried look he shot at me once when he thought I wasn't looking. It was a nice day out and it lifted my mood a lot. I opened the window and let the wind blow my worries away. He smiled at me and I gave him a real smile back. I was truly happy right then. Everything felt so perfect I had forgotten about everything, mostly.

I looked in the side mirror and saw a car coming really fast but I thought nothing of it. A lot of people tended to drive fast on this road. It was normal. I felt a little nudge in the back of our car.

"What the-" was all my dad got to say. There was another push on the car, but it was more like a blow. It hit us from the back and we went swerving. I screamed. It all happened so fast. My eyes flashed to the front windshield and I saw a light pole in our swerving tracks. I closed my eyes and felt the impact. My seatbelt tighten and my body blew forward. My head smashed against the window and my hands fell limp. I was going in and out of consciousness. I knew what I had to do.

"Dad?" I asked. I didn't want to move my head. There was no reply, just silence.

"Dad?" I called again. I reached over and shook him. Still no reply. I felt around for his phone that he kept in the cup holder. I found it and dialed 911. It rang once and they answered.

"Hello!" A woman answered.

"I need you to help me. My dad and I got in an accident. Someone rear ended us and we swerved and hit a pole. I- I don't think he's okay."

I started crying.

"Okay hold on. Tell me where you are" She said quickly.

"I think I'm on Green Street. I'm not sure I wasn't paying attention." I said. I wasn't feeling good.

"Okay I sent someone. Please stay on the phone!" She ordered. I felt weaker by the second.

"I- I don't think I can." I said weakly. My hand dropped and the phone slipped out of my hand. I heard the faint voice of the lady. I felt something warm on my shoulder and I was pretty sure it was blood. I felt weaker by the second. I was getting colder even though something warm was covering me. I felt a blackness coming and three pictures flashed in my head. One of Rex, one of Logan and one of the letter. I wanted to hold on. But there was just so many things telling me I had nothing left. I realized I really didn't have anything left. I stopped trying then and I felt the blackness sweep over me and wrapping me up. Making me warm inside even though my outside was cold. I heard my heart keep struggling to go with each beat getting slower. I smiled. It wasn't a bad death. It was nice and there wasn't much pain and I had one last strike of happiness. I heard the faint sirens coming. Then I heard the last thuds of my heart. I closed my eyes and saw the blackness.


	9. Pictures

LOGAN BAKER'S View

I dialed the number and the phone rang twice.

"Hello." Professor Miloslav said. I remembered his voice instantly.

"Hello this is Kass Darley's father. I need to speak with her privately." I lied.

"Let me get her for you." he replied.

"Could you not tell her who this is first? We haven't talked in a while."

"Oh yes certainly." he said and clicked a button. I heard him call Kass down. I heard her response and when she was close enough I heard her footsteps.

_Who is calling me? No one ever calls me _I heard her think.

"Hello?" She said cautiously.

"Are you alone?" I asked.

"Yeah... Why?" She asked.

"I am Lesley Hacker's pediatrician." I lied "And I have heard some unfortunate news, but I don't know anything for sure. You're one of her emergency callings and I wanted to know what happened."

"Oh, it's a sad story you see" she paused "Poor thing never got a break." She trailed off. "Well I might as well start from the beginning. There was this boy who she was very much in love with and he was just as much in love with her. She had the moon on her string, while it lasted. Then her devilish ex-boyfriend made a plot that she fell for. The boyfriend left her instantly. She crumpled to bits. She was torn for weeks, she wouldn't come out and she rarely left her room. Then Mabel made her get up but Lesley still wasn't right.

"Then that fateful day she got called to a party. Rex's birthday party. His friend went to her, told her that Rex wanted to apologize for what he did and blames himself for her dreadful position. He pulled her right then and there to the party. Of course when she goes there they're having a masked ball party. There's no one she knows there as far a she could tell. The friend handed her a drink. She drank and drank. She asked for Rex but no one showed.

"Finally the crowd parted and he came. He just kissed her and she tried to get him away. They all figured she had to be somewhat drunk from those drinks so they all stood there and laughed. Then a boy, Otto, pulled Rex off of her and punched him. She ran off after that. No one heard anything from her except me. She went home and when she was…" Kass trailed off.

"When she was what?" I demanded. Kass lingered on the answer.

"And when she was on her way home she got in a car accident. Her and her dad." she said in a grave voice.

"No!" I screamed. I could hear her jump.

"So it is you. Logan Backer." she said amused. I hung up. I couldn't take much more of it. I took a deep breath. I have to go back, there's no way that I can just let Rex get away with this. I closed the telephone booth door since it started to rain. I tuned all the other voices out of my head and dialed Kendall's number. She answered on the first ring.

"Hello?"

_Who is this _she thought. She probably didn't recognize the number. Kendall is my cousin who is in the same grade as me. She is a vampire, just like me. We always stick together and when our adopted family dies then we move on to another family to watch us. She didn't have any special powers though. That was rare.

"It's me. I'm leaving to go back to the school today, either you're coming or you're not."

I heard her making a decision.

"But our vacation isn't over yet!" she whined. I gritted my teeth.

"Either you're coming or you're not!"

She noticed the strain in my voice.

"Fine" she muttered. "I'll meet you there"

I hung up the phone and walked down the alley to get out of peoples view. Then I flew out of there with my speed that couldn't even compare with a cheetah. My anger drew me faster then usual and I got my stuff packed and walked to my adopted mother. She had no idea about our vampirism, but she knew about the school. Kendall was already there and packed, she glared at me.

_Thanks for ruining my fun_ she thought while she rolled her eyes.

"Mother," I said to explain, I saw tears in her eyes.

_I shouldn't let them see me like this. I will see them soon, after the years out._ She thought.

"Don't worry. Kendall explained everything to me." My mother explained. My eyes flickered over to Kendall, she rolled her eyes again.

_I told her that a friend was in trouble and we needed to go back as quickly as possible. I didn't tell her it was about Lesley. _

Surprised flittered on my face.

_Honestly, of course I know. Do you think I'm stupid? Why else would you be going there?_

She huffed.

"What's wrong dear?" Our mother asked.

"Oh, I'm just mad since we have to leave" Kendall lied. I went over and gave my mother a hug.

"Oh, still cold as usual. You'd think with the heat you'd warm up, maybe you should get that checked out."

"Yeah I'll get right on that." I mumbled, and Kendall laughed.

************************

We boarded the train and I was thankful that we both had good patience. Even though I still had a weird feeling that something was amiss. Kendall was reading 'Twilight' again. Maybe she wants to become a better vampire. That would definitely be a good manual. I wasn't even sure why we took the train. We could probably run faster than it. Maybe we just wanted to keep out of suspicion. I never wished that I couldn't know what people were thinking, but now that would come in handy from Kendall's thoughts. She thought I wasn't listening, but I was.

_Poor Lesley, she ended up just like the second book except she really did die. Logan never should have left her whether she was having problems or not. He should have stayed by her side and now look what happened. He also should have just turned her. Instead of looking for alternatives like in these books because now it is too late. I don't even know why we're here. This is just going to cause more pain. I don't think he realizes that she's never coming-_

"Enough!" I snapped at her. I got up and went over to the door. I started walking and stopped at a familiar booth. Booth number 67. I remember when I heard her scattered thoughts. I remember the way her big, beautiful, brown eyes widened when she first saw me. I remember her sun-kissed, medium brown hair. The way she wore her own clothes over the uniforms, not really caring what anyone thought just as long as she felt comfortable. When I read her sweatshirt it told me that she would believe almost anything. She didn't know it then, but I knew. This is the girl I want to be with for eternity. I was surprised by my own thoughts. I knew nothing about this girl except for what she was thinking this second. I asked her the obvious question, even though I already knew the answer.

"What are you doing?" I asked warily. She smiled and blushed. When the color ran through her cheeks it made my like her even more.

I shook my head. These memories were hurtful and I'm foolish for even thinking about them. I don't know when I'll ever be able to forgive myself. My reason for leaving her wasn't even legitimate. I returned from the restroom and sat across from Kendall. She glared at me. I realized that I need to think of way to get Rex back. Though the most important thing is that I need to get the Blaze Cup. I Lesley can't have it, then no one should. It will take a lot of research though. I searched through peoples heads, trying to find anything about the cup or Lesley. I found nothing.

The train ride went by fast. I mostly listened to Kendall read her thoughts through her mind. Her face was always so serious when she read. It was amusing. Her dark brown hair fell down, covering her face. Her brown eyes flickered rapidly as she read the book at a fast pace. Kendall was really the same age as me, but when we went to the school she pretended to be a year younger. We both always got Falk. All Kendall had to do was get a room assigned.

************************************

I helped Kendall carry her bags to her room. Even though she would be able to carry the whole schools bag in on hand. But we had to keep a low profile. The teachers are the only ones who knew about our vampirism. When we got to the room I dropped the bags I was carrying. It was Lesley's room, or rather Kass and Mabel's. Kendall turned around and stared at me. Thoughts ran through my head of the various times that I walked through that door. The time when I really talked to her, when we were leaning on the opposite sides of the door. Kendall had to talk like a normal person because there were other people walking around.

"What?" She hissed. I furrowed my brow. I was confused by how she couldn't know this.

"I-um-I have to go." I stuttered and hurried away. I walked out into the main hallway. There was a bunch of people in there. Most were coming back from summer trips and others were greeting the people returning. I walked past a blonde boy who was sulking against the window. I was suddenly over come by grief, but it wasn't me who was feeling it. I could feel it coming from the boy next to me. I wasn't even searching into his mind and I felt it. This confused me and my curiosity got the best of me.

"Why the long face?" I asked and he glanced up to see if I was addressing him.

"Just remembering something that happened.... a while ago." he mumbled. I glanced into his mind and instantly saw what I had been told. I saw through this boy's eyes. He was pushing past a crowd. They were dressed up and wearing masks. Finally he got through to a break in the crowd. I saw the back of a red-haired boy whose face was smashed against someone. I gasped. I noticed her brown hair all scrunched up in his hand. Her hands were trying to push him away but he wouldn't budge. The boy pulled Rex off of Lesley. Then he punched him. Lesley got off the table and threw he glass down on him. Then she fled. We were back into the present now and my furious face was in the picture. I had forgotten that I was staring at him. I shook my head and walked away. I desperately wanted to hit something. I noticed Rex out of my peripheral vision. It took all I had not to go up to him and smash his head into the wall. He was signing something. When he left I walked up to the sign. It said it was for dual practicing. I smiled and wrote my name down. I was an ace at duels, but as a "beginner" I could get away with "accidentally" hitting something that would fall and crush Rex. I would work on the plan.

I decided, after I stopped fuming with hate, that I should go back to Kendall's room and "help" her. I knocked on the door, something I was not used to. Mabel opened the door and her eyes widened as she saw me in the doorway.

"Can I come in?" I asked. Since she was still staring at me, unmoved.

"Yeah- um- come in."

I walked through the door and saw Kendall unpacking her stuff.

_Wow! You decided to grace me with your presence. _Kendall thought sarcastically.

_Holy Crap! _Kass thought with a thousand possibilities in her head.

_Doesn't he know what happened to Lesley? Why is he back? And why is Kass looking at him like that? _Mabel had a thousand questions swirling around her head. I tuned them both out. I walked over to Kendall's bed, which used to be Lesley's, and sat on it. Kendall dumped a bunch of stuff on my lap for me to put away. I sighed.

"Do you guys know each other?" Mabel asked.

"We're cousins." Kendall explained.

"Then why are you here if you are new?" Mabel snapped. I was surprised. She always had nice thoughts and never lied. I tuned her back in.

_Stupid girl just decides to come and take over Lesley's spot! How dare she!_

I tuned her back out. That made sense.

"Oh-um- we have a special relationship with the Professor. So I don't have to wait till later." Kendall quickly made up an excuse.

_You better explain later!_

Mabel's eyes were confused and I glanced over at Kass. She was staring at me, wide-eyed. I didn't want to hear what she was thinking since I had a general idea. She had made it pretty clear in her mind before that she liked me. Kendall must have caught my distress.

"I'm done, mostly. You can leave now." Kendall said with a dismissive wave. If she only knew how badly it hurt just to be sitting on Lesley's old bed. I felt as if someone was stabbing me, if that were actually possible. I walked to my room with my head down. My side of the room was clean and the others were messy. I walked over to my book shelf and picked up the first Twilight book. I toyed with it in my hand. I opened it to a random page. It read:

'Most of the time I tune it all out — it can be very distracting. And then it's easier to seem normal when I'm not accidentally answering someone's thoughts rather than their words'

I chuckled. I dropped it to the floor and picked up the third book. I, again, opened it to a random page. It read:

'Time passes. Even when it seems impossible. Even when each tick of the second hand aches like the pulse of blood behind a bruise. It passes unevenly, in strange lurches and dragging lulls, but pass it does. Even for me.'

Just out of irony and shear hatred for the way my life seemed to fit those sentences, I threw the book across the room and it split apart with an earth shattering blow. I was glad that I was alone. I'm not sure how I would explain this one. I heard the thoughts of one of my roommates coming near and I quickly picked up the remains of the book and dumped it in the trash.

"Dude, did you hear that loud thump? I thought it came from this room!" my roommate, Rick, said.

"No, I think it might be from next door or something." I said shaking my head. He looked at me suspiciously. I just laid on my bed and pretended that I didn't notice him.

_He has been acting really strange since he came back. I wonder if it has something to do with Lesley and...._ I tuned Rick out. The last thing I needed was more memories or more obsession. It isn't healthy for me. Rick turned around and opened the door. He crashed into Kendall.

"Oh-um-sorry miss!" Rick said flustered. _Man! She is a babe! Logan better hook me up._

_Wow! His is sexy!_ Kendall's eyes flickered over to me, _you better not say anything!_

I laughed. Kendall walked over to my bed and sat down.

"What was Mabel's problem?"

"She just doesn't like how you came so fast after the.....situation."

"Oh." Kendall said, "You better not say anything to Rick!" I flew of the bed and to the other wall, bumping into it slightly. She stood up startled.

"What?" she exclaimed.

"That's it! I am finished with this stupid reading minds thing! I want it to go away." I thought deeply about everything that I have learned about us, "I'm going to tune it out and I know how!"

"You know how hard it is to start back up again after you stop." She warned.

"Then let me get familiar to your voice and I'll be set." Her eye brow furrowed. She must have been thinking seriously about this. It was a very serious thing to do and most don't have the strength to go back.

"Fine, but we have to start now." She ordered.

******************************

We talked for a long time. Or she spoke in her mind and I listened. I didn't even know that someone could speak for that long, but she proved me wrong.

_I saw her you know. When I was in the room. Mabel has a picture of the three of them together. And when I was putting stuff away under my bed, I found this._

She pulled a picture of Lesley and me. It was perfectly preserved except little spot on the paper that, only to a vampire's eye, you could tell they were tear drops. The picture was shaking and it took me a while to realize that it was my hands that were shaking.

"I'm sorry." she mumbled.

"I'm ready." I said curtly.


End file.
